Emergence: Asides
by Chris7221
Summary: Alternate perspectives, humour tangents, and side stories that don't really fit into the flow of Emergence, but are related to the story. May be sillier and not very well written; some are canon and some are not. Open to contributions. Home: All of them return home, for some definition of home.
1. A List of People

There's a lot that I want to put in Emergence that just doesn't fit within the flow of the story. Alternate perspectives, humour tangents, meanwhiles, et cetera. I'm calling these Asides because I'm not sure if they are true omake. They may be sillier and lower quality than the rest of the story, but unless otherwise noted, all are canon and many are significant to the story.

Context: Any time after Chapter 13, the consulate receptionist.

* * *

**E****mergence: Aside 1  
The List Of People Olga Shevchenko Has Been Asked To Find, Assist, or Otherwise Track Down**

Ivan the Great: Nationality - Russian; Historical Leader

Ivan the Terrible: Nationality - Russian; Historical Leader

Ivan the Flatulent: Nationality - Unknown; Joke Character

_Is not funny._

Lech Wałęsa: Nationality - Polish; Former President of Poland

_He is Polish, how you not tell?_

Pavel Chekov: Nationality - Russian; Fictional - Star Trek

Marko Ramius: Nationality - Lithuanian/Russian; Fictional - The Hunt For Red October

_I like movie, but I don't understand how anyone can think Scotsman he is Russian or Lithuanian._

Lyudmila Pavlichenko: Nationality - Ukrainian; War Hero

_Is great hero, but unfortunately, is also long dead._

Paulina Porizkova - Nationality: Czech/Swedish/American; Model and Actress

_I don't understand how anyone thinks this one. __Polish, maybe, but Ukrainian?_

Milla Jovovich - Nationality: Ukrainian; Actress

_I never realized she was born in Kyiv! Exciting, but cannot help you._

Osama bin Laden - Nationality: Saudi Arabia; Terrorist

_Everyone want him found, but why you come here?_

Imran Zakhaev: Nationality - Russian; Fictional - Call of Duty

_Name sounds like a Caucasian or a Steppes Person._

Vladimir Makarov: Nationality - Russian; Fictional - Call of Duty

_He just kept repeating the words, "Find Makarov"._

Vitali Klitschko: Nationality - Ukrainian; Boxer and Politician

Viktor Yanukovich: Nationality - Ukrainian; Former President of Ukraine

_I think the less I say about him the better._

Petro Poroshenko: Nationality - Ukrainian; President of Ukraine

Vladimir Putin: Nationality - Russian; President of Russia

_I would like to hand you his head on a silver platter but unfortunately I cannot._

Weiss Schnee: Nationality - German; Fictional - RWBY

_The German part is just a guess, I will not watch Japanese cartoon to find out._


	2. Happier Times

Context: A little bit of background about Katya. It is implied that everyone is speaking Russian.

* * *

**Emergence: Aside ****2**  
**Happier Times**

_Ruby bolted upright, flailing around in surprise. "Weiss! I-I was studying, and then I fell asleep! I'm sorry..."_

_Weiss shushed her, putting a finger over her own mouth. Quietly, she asked, "How do you take your coffee?"_

"_I... I don't..."_

"_Answer the question!" Weiss snapped._

"_Uhh, cream and five sugars!" Ruby stammered._

"_Don't move," Weiss sighed, disappearing to her own bed. A moment later, she came back with a fresh cup. "Here."_

"_Um... Thanks, Weiss," Ruby replied, trying to hide her surprise._

_Weiss smiled apologetically. "Ruby, I think you have what it takes to be a good leader. Just know that I am going to be the best teammate you'll ever have! Good luck studying!"_

_She briefly reappeared and pointed to one of Ruby's papers. "That's wrong, by the way."_

_From the doorway, Weiss added, "Hey, Ruby?"_

"_Uh-huh?" Ruby asked, looking up._

"_I always wanted bunk beds as a kid," Weiss said quietly before closing the door._

Four girls and one boy crowded around a laptop. On the screen, the credits of RWBY Episode 10 rolled.

"So, do you like it yet?" Katya asked hopefully.

"No, I still hate it," Polina grumbled, leaning back. "All of Team RWBY are ridiculous idiots and the plot is terrible."

"You know, you're more like Weiss than your realize," Katya said to her friend.

"But I'm a normal student. I don't have to fight monsters, just graduate. And I am not a rich bitch."

"I don't understand," Viktor protested. "Why don't they just send in the army and kill all the Grimm?"

"It's not that easy," Katya tried to explain. "The armies aren't the powerful, and the Grimm are really tough and there's a lot of them."

"Bah! The Ukranian Army could probably destroy the Grimm. The Russians, easy."

Yulia added, "Why don't you watch real anime? It's much better than this."

"You don't like RWBY either?"

"It's been ten episodes, which are very short, by the way, and the animation is bad, the texturing is bad, it just looks bad!"

"Fine, you don't like it. What about you, Nika?" Katya asked.

The quiet girl just shrugged.

"Hey, did you hear the news from Kiev?" Alena asked, sitting down beside the group.

"What news?"

She nudged aside Katya and brought up a different video on her laptop. "There's a huge protest! Kiev is on fire!"

"What are you watching?" a concerned adult voice asked, surprising them. "Is that a violent Western movie?"

"No, this is the news," Alena said.

"There is a big violent protest in Kiev!" Viktor added. "Does that mean that the country is going to fall apart?"

"Calm down, Viktor," the teacher reassured him. "The chaos in Kiev is far away. It will not reach here."


	3. After the Fight

Context: The end of Chapter 14, from Katya's perspective.

* * *

**Emergence: Aside ****3**  
**The Aftermath**

The first thing she saw was the blood.

The second thing she saw was the dead soldiers.

The third thing she saw was the Weiss standing stoically among the bodies.

Her reaction was crude, but natural. "Yob tvoyu maht!"

"Uh... how do I put this... they tried to kill me," the girl in white said, less stoically. "I didn't expect this to happen, honestly."

"You kill these men!" she shouted. Did they really, or was this girl really a cold-blooded killer? How did she kill five armed fighters, anyway? With that sword?

Something about one of the bodies caught her eye. Cautiously, she turned the body and took the man's wallet from his half open pocket. Her eyes widened. "This is Russian soldier!"

The Weiss blinked, struggling to regain her composure. "He said they were, what did he say, spetsialny regiment."

She dropped the wallet and wiped her hands on her pants. "Yes, Russian soldier! They look for you?"

"Yes, I think so."

"They look for you!" That meant that this person was of special interest to the Russians. Who was she? An American agent? No, life wasn't a bad spy novel. Her voice grew more panicked. "You have to disguise. We have to leave, now!"

She rummaged through her small supply of extra clothes, pulling out a nondescript blue hoodie, jeans, and old sneakers that looked about the size of the other girl, handing her the collection.

"These?" the Weiss objected, holding up the clothes as if they were beneath her.

"I am sorry, princess, but this is warzone!"

"Sorry." She... apologized?

"Change."

"Here?" the Weiss said, offended again.

"Yes!" she hissed, irritated. Stupid American girl didn't know what was at stake.

"Fine!" the Weiss huffed, beginning to take off her white jacket.

"I still have question," she said as the other girl changed. "How you kill soldiers?"

"The same way as anything else. With Myrtenaster and my glyphs."

"You still must be character?"

"I told you, I'm Weiss Schnee," she replied, annoyed. "I'm done changing. Let's go."


	4. Too Much War

Very short, but potentially very bittersweet. Or potentially very crap.

**Emergence: Aside ****4**  
**Too Much War**

He had outlived them all.

He barely remembered Alexey, his older brother. He had been too young to understand why they had to leave home and run. He had been too young to understand why his brother was leaving to fight. He had been too young to understand what the Order of the Patriotic War meant. But he had not been too young to feel the pain of his strong, brave, loving brother's passing.

Ruslan had been their pride and joy. Their only son, he was smart, handsome, and courageous. That was why he had joined the Red Army, that was why he had been sent to Afghanistan, and that was why he had been awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union. They knew right away why they were being given the medal, and not Ruslan himself.

They were too late for Irina. The daughter of Ruslan and his deceased wife, she was the last of the line and their ray of sunshine in the darkness. Like her father, she was headstrong and once she was committed to something, she would see it through. That was why she had followed his footsteps into the newly independent Ukrainian military, and that was why she had volunteered to fight the separatists five years after her service was up. And that was why she had been blown to pieces by a BM-21.

Why did they fight? He knew why, of course, but he was sick and tired of it. Tired of watching young men and women, with families, friends, and so much to live for, die brutally and horribly. Tired of watching innocent people suffer from fear, devastation, and loss.

He knew he did not have many years left. The only thing that kept him going was his wife of over half a century. Neither of them wanted to experience the loss and pain again. They would go together.


	5. Do svidaniya, Weiss Schnee

A scene that was missing from Ice Princess.

**Emergence: Aside 5  
Do svidaniya, Weiss Schnee**

It was hard to watch her leave. I stood on the platform with my aunt and uncle, and Weiss and her new companions.

"Have everything?" my aunt asked for what was probably the fifth time.

"Yes," Weiss replied.

"Good luck," my uncle wished, firmly grasping Weiss' hand.

"Thank you," she replied.

"Will miss you, free to visit any time," he added. We all knew that Weiss would probably never come back here. Nobody told my uncle that she would be travelling on a false passport, but I'm sure he already knew or at least suspected.

"Thank you," Weiss repeated, before my aunt embraced her with her short arms.

Beside them, Sam extended his hand to my uncle. "Thank you, Vladimir."

"Is pleasure," he replied, grasping the young man's hand.

"Katya, I'd like to thank you. For everything," Weiss said to me. "I know this is hard for you. I'm sorry for what happened. But... thank you."

"Bye, Weiss," I said quietly, drawing her into a quick hug.

"Bye, Katya," she replied, then pulled away, hefting her bag and climbing aboard the train with her new companions.

In a way, we were alike. Neither of us had a life left. Both of us would start again.


	6. Earth 101

What were Cliff, Ben, and Ruby doing while everyone else was in Ukraine? Lots of stuff, actually. This is from the perspective of Cliff.

* * *

**Emergence: Aside ****6**  
**Earth 101**

"You're putting together, like courses and stuff?" Ruby asked incredulously, eyeing the document on my laptop.

"Curriculum," I termed, sighing. "And yes. History, technology, culture, even some biology and linguistics."

The energetic girl waved her hands in the air. "But it's so boooring!"

"But this is important stuff to know!" I protested. I mean, this was how to live, adapt to, and blend in to life on Earth. It's basic knowledge you need to pass as Earthican!

"Booooooring," she repeated.

"If I put it together now, that'll make it easier and more elegant to deliver late," I pointed out. Then I added, "And potentially less boring."

She shook her head. "Still booooring."

"Oh come on, you enjoyed it!" I said. At least, she seemed to. I'm a terrible judge of that.

"Yeah, but this is like classes and stuff and that's boring."

I tried one last time. "I thought Weiss liked classes?"

"Well, yeah, you're right, and so does Blake, but I don't think my sister will appreciate it as much."

"It's not really formal classes," I clarified. "It's just, more like, informal lessons, just a little more organized and better done."

Before she could say anything else, I quickly added, "Besides, if more people I'll show up, or if there's like, official first contact, I can give this to them as a welcome present from Earth."

"Still boring!"

"Ugh!" I threw my arms up into the air. "Then help me make it _less_ boring!"


	7. Token of Appreciation

Some people were asking if they informed their benefactors, and what the response was. This is the answer.

Ben's perspective.

* * *

**Token of Appreciation**

I had nearly tripped over the box on my way to work. I was kind of late and I didn't think much of it at the time, so I just kicked it inside and continued.

When I got home, Ruby was on the floor shaking the box, with Weiss standing beside her, glaring at her.

"Look, Ruby, if you really want to open the box, just open it!"

"What is it?" I asked. Reluctantly, Ruby handed over the box. I examined the label before tossing the box back. "Huh, it's from Texas. Maybe it's a gun or something."

Ruby's eyes lit up. "Ooh, there's a weapon in here?"

"It's obviously not a weapon, you dolt," Weiss snapped at her.

"Aww..." The girl actually looked sad at that before she exclaimed, "Can we open it? Can we? Can we?"

"Sure, whatever," I said dismissively, grabbing a Coke out of the fridge and sitting down at the kitchen table, since the couch was now Ruby's bed and I didn't feel like going into the server room and doing servery stuff today.

"Yay!" I watched as Ruby tore open the box, absolutely shredding the cardboard container.

"Ruby, be careful with that!" Weiss shrieked as the smaller girl turned what was left of the box upside down and dumping the contents on the floor.

"Look Weiss, people like grapes!" Ruby held up a bright purple T-shirt.

"Isn't that a soda?"

"It's also something someone said, it's funny, anyway!" She tossed the shirt aside and held up another two. "Red team? Blue team?"

"Ugh."

"Come on, Weiss, you could at least be appreciative even if you're not excited."

"Fine," the ice queen admitted reluctantly. "I appreciate the _effort_ that these people have put into sending us this merchandise."

Ruby tossed a poster at her. "Are those the Achieve Men? Those look like the Achieve Men."

"Those are not the Achieve Men," Weiss insisted. "Although I will admit they do look a bit like them."

The smaller girl dug through the shrinking pile of packing material and produced a box with colourful graphics on it. "Hey, look! Red versus Blue! Isaac like this show!"

"What is that?"

"They're blu-rays," Ruby explained. I guess nobody had explained them to Weiss yet. "It's like a video on a disc."

"A disc? An actual round-"

"Yeah, it's optical media, it's outdated and nobody uses it anymore," I told them.

"Oh," Ruby said, a bit disappointed. She quickly recovered, diving into the pile and pulling out a pair of... RWBY plushies. She squeed in excitement. "Ohmygoshwehaveourownplushies!"

Weiss actually backed away when Ruby thrust her plushie at her. "Get that... thing away from me!"

"But it's like a mini-you! It's soooo cute!" she said back, waving the plushie in her face.

The white-haired girl (whitehead?) reluctantly took her plushie. "Are you hitting on me?"

"No, you're not cute, just the plushie!" Ruby countered before her cheeks flushed red and she corrected herself. "I mean it's not like you're not cute or anything bad like that but I don't think you're cute in some weird creepy gushy love way or anything like that but-"

"I get it, I get it," Weiss snapped. She pointed at a corner of white sticking out of the pile. "What's that?"

"Oh, it looks like a letter!" Ruby shouted before starting to read in a dramatic tone:

"Good job getting Weiss out of Ukraine. I have to admit, I didn't think you could pull it off. I mean, Donetsk. _Damn_. As a token of our appreciating, have some free swag. The plushies are for the girls, obviously. Good luck on finding the rest of the team, we're on the lookout here."

She added, "There's also a smiley face and some illegible scrawls."

"I don't think this was for us, Ruby" Weiss pointed out.

Ruby shrugged. "Oh well."

I tossed my now-empty can in the trash, and retreated to the server room.


	8. Weiss Really Reacts

Weiss Reacts belongs to ElfCollaborator. Read that, by the way, instead of this crappy fic. Seriously, it's way better, go read it right now.

...

Finally. And with the blessing of ElfCollaborator. He has informed me that there may be reciprocity in the future.

You may also notice some changes to the formatting, such as the lack of numbering. I'm still experimenting with the asides. This is also the longest Aside so far, by far.

Canon: Partial. Characterization may be off, but events are canon.  
Perspective: Third-person.

* * *

**Emergence: Aside  
Weiss Really Reacts**

"So, there are people who write stories based on our lives?" Weiss asked, sitting beside Ruby in front of the computer. "That's pretty sad."

"Well, it's not really based on us," Ruby explained, clicking through the archives. "It's based on the show that's about our lives."

"How did that happen, anyway?" the heiress asked.

The other girl shrugged. "Dunno."

"Doesn't it bother you that there's a fictionalized version of our world and our lives that just happens to exist here?"

She shrugged again. "Not really. I thought it was kind of cool, actually."

Weiss was silent for a moment before she grumbled, "It's still based on our lives, even if it's indirect."

"I guess."

"So we're actually going to read this garbage?"

"It's not all garbage! Some of it is really interesting!" Ruby protested.

"Fine. Give me that," Weiss snapped, pushing Ruby and her swivel chair out of the way. She perused the list. "Hmm... Weiss Reacts. Well, that can't be that bad."

"Uh, Weiss, I wouldn't read that if I were you."

"And why not?" Weiss asked crossly. "I'm curious, and this one is about a fictional version of myself reacting to other fanfiction. That's about as benign as you can get."

"Uh..."

"It's probably just a thinly disguised series of rants from the author," Weiss said, clicking the link. "Huh. What kind of lemon is White Rose?"

"It's, uh, it means a story that has us together, like, uh, and, um, booping," Ruby explained, nervously tapping her fingers together.

Weiss was shocked. "Booping? As in..."

"Yes."

"Well, I definitely sympathize with my story-self, then. I would be extremely distraught if I had inadvertently read something like that on the internet."

The other girl didn't understand her elevated diction. "Uh, what?"

"It means I wouldn't like it," she oversimplified.

"Oh, yeah, I mean, it was pretty shocking the first time."

"What do you mean _the first time_?"

Ruby's cheeks flushed the colour of her name. "I didn't know what a lemon was, so I kept clicking on interesting sounding fics and seeing really gross stuff before someone explained it to me."

"Dolt," Weiss muttered in response, going to the next chapter.

She quickly skimmed it. "So there's a really badly written story that we laugh at, you're being creepy in this fic, and Velvet- who's Velvet?"

"Velvet is the faunus girl with the cute rabbit ears!" Ruby recalled.

"Ugh." Weiss clicked forward again.

"Hey, that's kind of like what happened here?" Ruby exclaimed. "When I first started looking at YouTube I was like what's that and then I was like wow and then I was what's this for and now I just spend a lot of time watching dumb videos."

"What's so important about Ren sneezing? Some foreshadowing?" Weiss asked.

"Dunno. Wait, is he trying to imply Ren is Monty? That's crazy!"

"Well, if I remember correctly, Monty Oum does the voice of Ren for the show here," Weiss explained. "Maybe that's the joke."

"Hey!" Weiss suddenly shouted at the screen. "Never a good singer? I'm a _great_ singer!"

"I've never heard you sing, Weiss."

"Just because I can doesn't mean I want to," she replied sadly. "Whatever, just go to the next chapter."

Ruby reached over and clicked the mouse button. "Huh. Jaune and-"

"No," Weiss snapped. "No way."

"Why do people keep sneezing?"

"Would Yang really write something like that?" Weiss asked, glaring at Ruby.

"Maybe," Ruby said sadly.

"Hey, don't worry, we'll find her," Weiss reassured her, skipping to the next chapter.

"Trailers again!" Ruby exclaimed, excited.

"Is there really any point to us reading about us reacting to trailers for a show about us?" Weiss contemplated.

"Probably not," Ruby admitted. "But come on, Weiss, it might be fun!"

"No, it doesn't feel right to read this with them gone," Weiss countered. "We can come back to this one when Blake and Yang are here."

"Fine." Ruby pouted as she skipped the chapter.

"Dustnet, fanstories, we didn't have those," Weiss muttered, starting to read.

"This doesn't make any sense!" she exclaimed after reading part of the chapter. "Random sneezing, something about nonsensical original characters... what? And this author clearly does not know what he's writing. The background information and characterization are totally off."

"It's just a silly story," Ruby said.

"It's just a _stupid_ story," Weiss muttered back.

"Did you even get what the chapter was about?"

"No, it didn't make any sense!"

"Well, it's about ridiculous original characters that-"

"I didn't want to know," Weiss snapped, going to the next chapter.

She began to read, but only made it a few paragraphs in before protesting loudly, "I have written! I have written fiction far better than this piece of trash! I have emulated the finest literary traditions of Remnant."

Ruby disagreed. "It was boooring!"

Weiss glared at her. "You read one of my stories?"

"You left it laying around! I was curious, okay?" Ruby protested. "I was surprised you wrote..."

"Of course I do! My family wanted me to be well-versed in various forms of writing for, well, my future."

"That makes sense," Ruby said before cringing. "Oh my gosh. What's up with Velvet in this fic?"

"She's obsessed!" Weiss screeched. "This is insane! I can't believe-"

"Weiss!" Ruby interrupted, grabbing and shaking the older girl by her shoulders. "It's just a story, okay? I'm sure Velvet isn't anything like that."

She quickly changed the chapter. "Look, Weiss! This chapter is about you reacting to bad fanfiction!"

"Finally, the title isn't a lie," Weiss muttered, starting to read the new, much more palatable but equally nonsensical chapter. Idly, she scrolled down the page. Reading fanfic, reading fanfic, something Ren-

"Weiss," the crimsonette whined. "You're not really reading it!"

"I am reading it!"

"You're skimming it!"

"I'm reading strategically."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I'm going through quickly and picking out the important bits," Weiss explained, sighing.

"It's a story, not a textbook!" Ruby protested, but she had already gone on to the next chapter.

"Cosplay is where people dress up like fictional characters," Weiss announced unnecessarily. "I was mistaken for a cosplayer at first."

"Yeah, me too," she agreed. "This is kind of weird. Sharks?"

"No, I don't really like sharks," the heiress snapped. "But they are right about me not liking anime."

Ruby whined, "You've watched like one show!"

"It was awful! It made no sense! Why was there a penguin at the end?" Weiss waved her arm for emphasis, nearly hitting Ruby in the face. She continued to read the fic, shouting out, "And I am not flattered! I am slightly disturbed! I have seen those Weiss cosplays and they don't look anything like me."

"You can't expect them to be perfect, Weiss," Ruby said quietly.

Weiss was silent, turning her attention back to the story.

Ruby interrupted her thoughts once again. "Nora as Thor? That funny, they just recently made Thor a girl."

"What?"

"There's a superhero called Thor," Ruby explained excitedly. "She's an ancient god of thunder who wields a giant hammer with a name I can't pronounce. But until just recently, the character was a guy."

"That's... strange," Weiss allowed, suppressing the urge to use some much stronger wording. The urge took over after she continued reading, "What do you mean Ruby a head or two taller! You are not that much taller than me! And what is wrong with this author? Why is there this random hugging? You don't do that, do you? No, you don't! And those costumes are not incredible!"

"Okay, okay- Jaune dressing as a girl?" Ruby burst out into laughter.

"Ew..." Weiss shuddered and scrolled to the end.

"Come on, it's funny!"

Weiss rolled her eyes, which bulged when she read the author's notes. "Lovable Tsundere Weiss-Chan? Wait, what's a tsundere?"

"It's like a person who's all mean and cold except they sometimes just become all nice and soft sometimes," Ruby explained. "Usually they're like that toward someone they have a crush on."

"I do not act like that! And I certainly don't have a crush on anyone!"

"You kind of do act like that, Weiss!" Ruby countered, but quickly added, "I don't know about the crush thing, though."

"No!" the heiress shouted. "I resent and reject this fic!"

"Come on, Weiss, one more chapter."

"Fine," Weiss pouted, clicking on the next link.

"Yang doesn't have a car," Ruby told her.

"Two years later, remember?" Weiss reminded.

The younger girl shook her head. "Yang loves bikes. The only thing she's more obsessed with than Bumblebee is Ember Celica."

She paused. "But I guess the author had to do this for the sake of plot."

"Ew, why is Ren groping Jaune?" Ruby recoiled, disgusted. "They don't really do that, do they?"

"I don't think so, at least, I really hope not," Weiss replied, slightly sickened.

Ruby read a bit, struggling to keep up with Weiss' quick scrolling. "What's Pink Argus? I've never heard of her before- I wouldn't be that excited."

"See? This story has some serious problems!"

She shook her head. "Nah, it's just supposed to be funny, not realistic."

"Jaune and Blake and... what is this I don't even..." Weiss sputtered after reading the next section. "I mean, okay, I get it, Jaune is dressed like a girl, but even he really wouldn't make a good one!"

"Yeah, I guess," Ruby half-agreed.

"A RWBY stall," Weiss deadpanned. "Okay, so this story is about us, but the show about us is in it."

"I don't understand."

"Neither do I. That's what I'm saying." She kept scrolling.

"Roman and Cinder..." Ruby blinked. "Wait, is Cinder supposed to be the mysterious lady on the tiltjet?"

"I... think so."

"Why would they be there? Why are they acting so silly? If they're there, wouldn't they be planning something bad?"

"Probably, yeah," Ruby agreed reluctantly. "I mean, they're evil. But it's supposed to be a funny story, and on Earth they make funny stories where evil people aren't evil all the time, like the-"

Weiss scrolled quickly through the chapter. "Penny, the weird girl, more obsessed Velvet and attractive-as-a-girl Jaune, neither of which makes any sense, and I like... yaoi? What's that?"

"It's, uh, it's sex comics where guys, and, uh, guys..." Ruby trailed off, flushing a deep red.

Weiss slammed her hands down on the edge of the desk. "Fuck this, I'm done!"

"Weiss!" Ruby admonished.

"What? This story is horrible and I can't stand it anymore. It's badly written and it makes a complete farce out of our lives!"

"I thought it was funny," Ruby muttered.

Weiss glared at her. "Of course you did! You have an incredibly juvenile sense of humour."

"And you have no sense of humour," Ruby snapped back, instantly regretting it.

"I have a sense of humour. I have a refined, elegant sense of humour!"

"Weiss, it's okay," Ruby reassured her, hugging her gently. "It's not for everyone. If you don't like it, though, maybe you should leave a review."

"Fine. I think I will." Weiss smashed the review button and hammered out an angry rant of a review.

_This story makes a complete fucking farce of our lives. It's is dispicable, disgusting, and unbearable to rea.d It is completely inaccurate, managing to distort heavily characterization, facts, relationsships, and everything about our lives. I realize thati is based on the whos about our lives and notour lives dirextly, but it's really bad and even the show RWBY is much more accurate than this train wrick of a fiction. The concept isn't bad but you barely deliver on it, choosing to do insane nonsense plots instead of actually writing about med reviewing fanafffitcction, and doning a terrible job at it too. If it was my chocie I owuld have this fiction removed from the site by force._

_PS: dont lisetn to weiss i liked it and thougt it was funny and good- RUby_

_-TheRealWeissSchnee_


	9. Cat Girls of Akihabara

Starting the runup to Urban Panther. Probably not worth posting, but I decide to anyway.

Canon: Full.  
Perspective: Third-person.

* * *

**Emergence: Aside  
Catgirls of Akihabara**

The three girls with the cat ears strolled excitedly down the busy streets of Akihabara. Here, among the strangest of a society looked upon as strange, they blended right in.

Yuko was half a step ahead of the other two, the informal leader of the group. She was the loud, outgoing one, which sometimes worked out and somehow didn't. It has been, of course, her idea to go on this trip. Even for them, her bright blue skirt and matching top were distinctive.

Miyako was the quiet one of the group. She was shy, awkward, beautiful, and oblivious. When Yuko had brought up the idea of going to Akihabara, she had just gone along with it. She dressed brightly, in loud pink, and didn't seem to realize the attention it grabbed.

Kiyomi was studious and logical, a counter to the wild emotions of the other two. She had objected to the trip, saying they needed to study for their all-important exams, but eventually agreed to go on the trip. Compared to the others, her light-and-dark green outfit was subdued.

"Hey, look at the girl with the bow," Yuko said, pointing. Crossing the street was a girl in black and white with a prominent black bow on her head. "She looks familiar somehow."

"You shouldn't point," Miyako objected quietly.

"An anime cosplayer, maybe?" Kiyomi suggested.

Yuko was already shouting, "Hey! Come join us!"

The girl in black looked at them, bow twitching with the abrupt moment.


	10. Practical Considerations

School has delayed the next chapter. But in the meantime, have the laziest aside ever. Believe it or not, our team is actually thinking about the future. Sort of.

Canon: Full.  
Perspective: In-universe document.

* * *

**Emergence: Aside  
Practical Considerations**

**A Feasibility Study of Keeping Team Motherfucking RWBY in Ben's Apartment**

_by Cliff, Isaac, Ben, Sam, and Jen_

**PHYSICAL LAYOUT**

_Or: Cramming Six People into an Apartment Designed for Two_

The current accommodations are barely adequate for two additional occupants, let alone four. Only one bedroom is available, and it is taken up by the original two occupants. There is a second bedroom, but it has been converted into an office and server room. Currently, the two additional occupants sleep in the living room, which also renders that space nonfunctional. ie ben cant watch tv any more

jesus christ could you get any more academic?

The apartment is designed to accommodate up to four people in its original configuration. However, as mentioned above, the second bedroom has been converted to a technical space. Although there is floor space, thermal and acoustic considerations preclude occupancy. what happened was weiss tried to sleep there and couldnt and she was bichier then usual that day

Removing the server equipment is technically, but not politically, feasible. that means ben wont agree to it

Living conditions have been described by the two new occupants as uncomfortable. weisz hates the floor but ruby is ok with teh coush Space is limited and I forgot where I was going with this.

Something something daily routine being interrupted, can write this later.

translation: ben's apartment sucks

Costs

Basically we're going to run out of money pretty fast if we don't get more income.

Monthly Expenses

Expense

Before

After

Rent

Food

^569sj!

Utilities

Internet

100

150

Equipment

Clothes and stuff

Jen's crap

Cell phones

160$

320$

i accidentally the table when I didn't save but basically we can't afford to live now

Yeah, I'm calling bullshit on this right now. They can't be that expensive. -Cliff

they eat a lot. Like, a LOT. And they need clothes and gadgets and they want to go out and experience Earth. plus the cell phone contracts are expensive

WHY DID YOU PUT THEM ON CONTRACTS? I TOLD YOU TO BUY BURN PHONES!

oh we didn't yet but I figured that would be an expense in the future

EIGHTY FUCKING DOLLARS A MONTH? IT'S NOT LIKE THEY NEED DATA!

data is really useful and i like data

BEN YOU'RE BITCHING ABOUT COSTS AND THEN YOU SAY THEY NEED DATA!

Can you please not argue on the Google Docs please? - Isaac

This might be irrelevant, see the sections below.

how to entertain them by Isaac

**RWBY house**

Like Cliff said above its not really doable to keep the entire team RWBY in Ben's apartment. I'm thinkign we can find a smallish house somewhere in bby to rent or buy.

this would be for both us and rwby so it would have to be big enough for 8 people but it's not like a fancy house so we could prbably put 4 beds in a room for example. and if would have room for servers and stuf

I actually support this idea. It would get some people off my case about where I'm living. And it might be fun, too.

yeah, that requires money, of which us (and especially you) have none

We need to get jobs to support this **Solving Monetary Concerns ****via Employment**

So, where can we get more money to do this.

Sam: I already work and it's not like i could take another job when I have school. I would really like to, you know, not quit school, too.

Isaac: i guess i could get a job or something

Cliff: I'm unemployable and I'm way too busy at BCIT, but maybe I can embezzle some more money from my parents.

Ben: I'm already working.

Jen: I already work. I could maybe drop my upgrading classes and get a job, but i mean I'ts going to be done in a few months anyway so after that i could maybe not go into college.

**DIFFERENCES**

_Or: Speculation on the differences between Remnans and Terrans_

Worst title ever - Isaac

why is this even ehre

tl;dr: We're fucked.


	11. Diversions I

In which Ruby plays some games she shouldn't and some she should. Except it was getting a little long so now it's only two games she shouldn't. Doom isn't here because I'm saving it for a separate thing.

Canon: Full, but loose characterization.  
Context: mid-Urban Panther  
Perspective: Third-person.

* * *

**Emergence: Aside**

**Diversions I**

They were bored. Without classes or missions, the first half of Team RWBY had nothing to do. Although they didn't have much with them, this world had plenty of entertainment, and with a little pushing from Sam they soon found themselves in front of Ben's gaming PC.

Weiss sat beside Ruby, who had one hand on the (large and clicky) keyboard and the other on the mouse, scrolling through the list of games.

She pointed to one at the top. "How about this one? Saints Row!"

Weiss arched an eyebrow. "Why? Do you even know what it's about?"

Ruby answered enthusiastically, "I heard that a saint is like someone who does really good deeds, so this game must be about helping people!"

"I highly doubt that."

"Well, we won't know until we play it," Ruby said with a tone of finality, launching the game.

"They can't spell," Weiss commented as soon as she saw the main menu.

"What?" The cursor paused over the New Game option.

Weiss pointed at one of the menu options. "It should be h-o-r-d-e. Unless they're implying it has something to do with prostitution, but that doesn't make a lot of sense."

"Maybe it's a joke we don't get," Ruby suggested.

Reluctantly, Weiss admitted, "It could be."

The screen faded out, and the opening crawl popped up. Against a starry background, with dramatic music in the background, one of the most ridiculous intros they had ever seen scrolled down the screen.

_Conquest._

_The story of human history._

_Since time immemorial, great leaders have risen from humble beginnings to..._

_do shit._

_And so it was with the THIRD STREET SAINTS._

_Since conquering Stilwater, the once small-time street gang has evolved into a media empire._

_A Saints movie is in development. JOHNNY GAT and SHAUNDI are pop-culture icons. And PIERCE..._

_Well, who gives a fuck about Pierce?_

_The points is, the Saints are on the world stage and every criminal organization wants their crown._

_It was only a matter of time before one of them took the fight to the Saints._

Both of the girls stared blankly. "What."

"I think that's another reference we didn't get. Maybe we were supposed to play the other games first," Weiss hypothesized. "Also, I didn't expect that much swearing."

"Me neither," Ruby agreed, already getting a bad feeling about this game. The opening made absolutely no sense to her. The Saints were some kind of gang, but they were pop-culture icons, so were they a fictional gang in the game?

The next part was an inexplicable advertisement for an energy drink which showed a man getting violently beaten before drinking it and starting to beat down his attackers.

"I don't get it," Ruby commented, watching the man fight. "Does the drink enhance Aura or something?"

"There's no Aura here," Weiss reminded her. "I think it's implied that the energy drink gives you powers."

"Oh..." Ruby replied. "Can they really do that?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Aww."

The advertisement ended, switching to three sharply dressed but drab coloured people talking in an elevator.

"They're going to rob the bank!" Ruby exclaimed when the subject was first brought up.

Weiss rolled her eyes as another man, wearing an exaggerated mask and oversized sweater with bright purple accents, stepped into the scene. "With an actor. Dressed as themselves. It's like they're not even taking it seriously."

Ruby laughed when the actor went overboard and asked to redo his line, but Weiss just rolled her eyes. "I don't get it, is this a real bank robbery?"

Then one of the hostages asked for and got a picture with the man in the oversized sweater, who was apparently the boss.

"The boss of what?" Ruby asked. "Is this supposed to be a scene from inside the movie?"

"I don't know," Weiss said honestly.

Then the bank tellers pulled out guns and started shooting.

"Weiss, what do I do?" Ruby asked as the cutscene suddenly gave way to gameplay. Her fingers quickly found the suggested WASD keys. "Never mind, I've got it."

She tried shooting the other bank robbers to no effect.

Weiss sighed. "Shoot the guards."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you're robbing the bank."

"But I don't want to rob the bank."

"This game is about robbing a bank. Maybe there's a reason for it."

"Fine." Ruby pouted, but started shooting at the guards.

She fought her way upstairs clumsily, following the on-screen prompts. Weiss commented, "You're really bad at this."

"I haven't played Earth games much!" Ruby countered. Before she could plant the explosive she was supposed to plant, her in-game character died.

"Should we try again?" Ruby asked quietly, hovering on the continue screen.

"I wouldn't bother."

"What did we just play?" Ruby whined as she closed the game. "That was _horrible_! That wasn't about good guys at all!"

Weiss was more neutral. "It wasn't what I expected either, but it wasn't that bad. I think it's a parody of something that we just didn't understand."

"Yeah, um..." Ruby was at a loss for words. "Let's just play something else."

"How about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare?" Weiss suggested, curious. "It sounds entertaining and informative."

"Of course you want to play something informative," Ruby grumbled.

"It's only natural that as future huntresses, we study the warriors of this world," Weiss defended. "Plus it sounds fun."

"That's what I wanted to hear!" Ruby admitted, launching the third game in the series.

"The third game?"

"It's probably the newest and bestest," Ruby defended as the game loaded.

"That's not a real word," Weiss muttered, but Ruby couldn't hear her as she launched the game.

"All warfare is based on-" a narrator began to say before Ruby skipped the cutscene.

Weiss was annoyed. "Hey!"

"Sorry!" she apologized, clicking through the menu and starting a new game. Before Weiss could say anything, she selected Regular difficulty.

A cutscene started, showing a view of the world before zooming in on a part with a lot of explosions. Suddenly, the scene shattered, like it was being displayed on glass.

"Your world as you knew it is gone," a rough, accented voice said. A mean-looking man in an army uniform was visible on some of the shards as they flew around. "How far will you go to bring it back?"

Still shown on the shattered shards, the scene changed to the mean-looking man getting stabbed in the eye. "Shepherd created a war... but only we knew the truth."

"Is that Shepherd?" Ruby asked. On the screen, two IDs were briefly shown on the shards but she couldn't make them out.

Weiss snapped, "If it wasn't, would they show it?"

There was another shot of glass shattering, and this time the shards showed a helicopter and a different man. They same narrator said, "Nikolai, we've got to get Soap out of here."

"What kind of a name is Soap?" Weiss wondered aloud.

"Da, I know a place," a voice with a Russian accent acknowledged. The scene changed back to the globe, showing locations in Afghanistan and Northern India before it, too, shattered, and the scene faded out.

It faded in to a view, facing up toward power lines and helicopter blades, accompanied by the sounds of pained breathing and the helicopter.

"Get him inside!" Price, the narrator, shouted. Him and another man appeared on the screen, pointing and pushing what was apparently the stretcher the viewpoint character was on.

The scene changed to an echo-y, blurry, dreamlike sequence. A man was smoking a cigar, and Price's voice echoed, "What the hell kind of a name is Soap, eh?"

"It's a flashback," Weiss explained.

"I knew that!" Ruby replied, cutting off Nikolai saying that the safehouse was up ahead in the game.

"Keep moving!" Price shouted before the scene changed to another flashback. In the one, Price was on the ground sliding a pistol toward the viewpoint. It suddenly shifted to a view of the pistol being aimed at a bald man.

There was a bang and a flash and suddenly they were inside a building, with Price shouting for a doctor. Then another flashback with Price in a boat shouting for someone to back up before the boat fell and crashed into the water.

"Keep pressure on that wound!" Price shouted after the scene changed back to the building.

Another voice, Nikolai, replied frantically, "I'm trying!"

He turned to the player. "Hang in there, my friend!"

Then there was another flashback, this time of the viewpoint character throwing a knife and it landing in a military man's eye, and then reversing to go back into his hand.

The view was splattered with red this time, with Price shouting for help and a doctor coming out. The scene faded black and the doctor said something about losing him and charging.

Then, with an electrical noise, a bright green "WW3" title appeared, before the first W rotated to form "MW3" and the "Call of Duty" text faded in above it.

"Well, that was dark," Ruby muttered, looking slightly sick. "People play this for fun?"

"It's just the opening cutscene, maybe the game is different," Weiss said calmly. "And it was actually somewhat well done from a dramatic point of view."

"Yeah, I guess it was pretty impressive," Ruby admitted. "But it was dark and gross."

The next scene was a mission briefing, full of jargon that neither of them understood. Apparently they were going to be fighting the Russians in New York, trying to unjam communications or something like that.

"That was really cool!" Ruby complimented, enthralled with the energy and intensity of the cutscene. "Did you see all that?"

Weiss disagreed. "The first cutscene was a lot better."

"RPG!" A voice shouted, and then there was a loud explosion. The scene slowly faded in.

"Are we sideways inside a vehicle?" Ruby asked.

Before Weiss could respond, someone in the game called, "Frost! Frost! Get switched on, we gotta move now!"

Without any player input, Frost grabbed his rifle and pushed the door open, revealing a destroyed city street with buildings blowing up above them.

"Wow..." Ruby was totally blown away by the intense computer-generated destruction.

Weiss was rather more sanguine. "Eh."

"The jammer's 500 metres north, we'll leg it from here, let's go!" The soldier tossed Frost a magazine and he loaded his rifle before putting Ruby in control.

Unfamiliar with how to fight in a military shooter, Ruby did what she always did and charged forward. She held down the mouse button, emptying half a magazine into one of the Russians. She did an awkward spin by flicking the mouse and knifed another Russian in the back. Then she tried to charge another Russian and ran out of sprint, getting shot at from both sides.

"You are Hurt. Get to Cover." the game screamed at her before the scene went black and white and faded out.

"Dolt," Weiss muttered.

"Aww," Ruby whined. Then the checkpoint reloaded and she was back to where she was several seconds ago.

"Don't charge forward this time," Weiss snapped.

Ruby obliged, staying back and shooting at the Russians from a fair distance away. She didn't use sights and barely hit any of them.

"Right mouse button, use your sights!" Weiss scolded.

She did so and found that she was doing a much better job of killing Russians. She knifed another one in the neck. "Huh, do Earth humans really bleed that much?"

"No, actually, it's a lot worse," Weiss replied truthfully, shuddering.

"Really?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Sorry, Weiss."

"Contact front! Hostiles in the open!" one of the characters shouted as they advanced. Then a helicopter appeared. "Heads up! Bird incoming!"

"Get off the street! Go right! Go right! C'mon, Frost, let's go!" the soldier shouted. Ruby was still focused on shooting soldiers and trying to move forward.

"Helicopter!" Weiss screeched, her attention back on the game.

"I've got this!" Ruby shouted. She flicked the mouse again, aiming at the helicopter and unleashing a burst. The game tactlessly told her that her weapons would not damage the vehicle. "What? That's not fair!"

"GET OFF THE STREET!" Weiss screeched.

"Okay!" Ruby shouted back, dashing to the right following the soldier called Sandman into a building.

"So what's the game plan?" Truck asked.

"Same as before. Burn the jammer, kill the bad guys," Sandman replied.

"I like it," Grinch agreed.

"Who comes up with these names, anyway?" Weiss complained.

"Up the stairs! On me!" Sandman ordered, although they were already halfway up. "Grinch, Truck, hold here till my signal. Frost, with me."

Sandman kicked open a door, revealing a bombed-out section of building with enemies shooting at them.

Ruby immediately forgot what she had learned earlier and charged forward. She managed to shoot two Russians and stab another before getting hit in the face and dying.

"Come on!" Ruby whined, hitting Escape to pause the game.

"I don't think this game is very realistic," Weiss commented as they sat at the pause screen.

"Well, yeah!" Ruby agreed. "The fighting is all hiding and shooting!"

Earth shook her head. "No, that part is realistic, at least for Earth."

"Then what's unrealistic?"

"I've seen Earth warfare in person and in documentaries, and it doesn't look like that. In fact, this looks a lot more like Remnant than Earth," Weiss explained. She waved her hand dismissively. "Try a different game."

"I was enjoying it," Ruby whined, but quit the game anyway.


	12. Realpolitik

To clarify, Asides are not meant to be a knockoff of Weiss Reacts. Although some Asides are comedic and some are even solely comedic, the primary purpose is to explore the way the girls see and adapt to Earth and to explore the difference between Earth and Remnant. I know we all want to see them react to certain things. I'd be more willing to entertain requests if they are about an aspect of Earth's technology, culture, politics, society, etc than if they are about a specific work.

That's what I intend to do. It's not a guarantee that I will accomplish it. This chapter, for example, is pretty much useless.

Remnant's politics are simple. There are four kingdoms, each with a monarch and council, and all are fighting to survive. Earth's politics are somewhat more complex.

Canon: Full.  
Context: post-Urban Panther  
Perspective: Third-person.

**Emergence: Aside  
Realpolitik**

"Fucking tories," Ruby had heard Jen muttering after she came home from work. "How did they get a majority government in the first place?"

Jen was distracted and busy, so just told them, "Canadian government stuff. Look it up."

Two hours of Googling later, they were even more perplexed. Currently, a diagram of the Canadian government was up on the monitor.

"How does this even function?" Weiss exclaimed. "There's three branches, each one is bigger than the governments Vale and Atlas combined, and everything has to be voted on..."

"Badly," Cliff explained, coming in and dropping his bag carelessly on the table beside them.

"How can you waste so much effort on getting nothing done?" Blake said.

"It's not a waste of effort, it's responsible government," he replied.

"I still don't understand why you place so much importance on this," Weiss said more diplomatically.

"Politics are a big thing on Earth," Cliff explained, shrugging. "Both internal and external."

"I don't understand," Blake interrupted. "How does anything get done? How do your governments even make effective decisions?"

He shrugged. "Honestly? We screw up a lot. But when push comes to shove, we can really haul ass. It may be in a roundabout manner, but our system works."

He paused. "Other systems, on the other hand, well, not so much."

"Other systems? What other systems?"

"What we have is a form of parliamentary democracy," Cliff explained, cracking open a can of Pepsi. "The United States has a different republic kind of democracy, and then there are dubious democracies like Russia where the parliament just rubber-stamps what the President says, and then there are actual dictatorships, though they usually at least pretend those are elected now."

Blake was nearly speechless. "But... how?"

"There's something like two hundred countries, totalling seven billion people. Do you think they're going to agree on anything?"

Ruby summed up their feelings. "Earth is weird. On Remnant, everyone just has a monarch and ruling council."

"Yeah, on Earth we'd call that a dictatorship," Cliff countered. "Remnant is weird."


	13. Who Is The Bride?

Well, we know, but they don't.

Canon: Full, but unreliable narrator.  
Context: early Stolen Flame  
Perspective: In-universe article

_**Emergence: Aside**_

**Who is The Bride?**

Three days ago, a video was uploaded to the web, showing a young woman in yellow refusing to cooperate with Islamic State, then rising up and killing her captors. Since then, hype, speculation, and more videos supposedly showing The Bride have flooded the internet.

**What We Know**

First appeared on Sunday (October 12) around Raqqa

Refused to cooperate in an IS propaganda video and killed her captors

Alleged video was found outside Raqqa and posted by Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently

Dubbed "The Bride" by the BBC after the character from Kill Bill

Video went viral within hours, and "The Bride" became most common name

Dismissed as a hoax by US and UK intelligence agencies

Stated to be full of hollywood stunts by analysts

More videos allegedly showing The Bride in action have appeared, but none are clear

**Is this the Angel of Kobane?**

Around the time the video went up, another story went viral. The Angel of Kobane, also known as Rehanna. Immediately, some have speculated that they are one and the same.

However, most experts dismiss this as unlikely. The Angel of Kobane is specifically described as Kurdish and from Kobane. The Bride appears Caucasian and briefly speaks with an American or Canadian accent. While the story of The Angel of Kobane has been circulating and recently became viral, this is the first anyone has seen The Bride.

On the other hand, the stories have eerie similarities. Symbolically, they stand for the same thing. Defiance against Islamic State. Both are women who have stood up against the Islamic State and won. Since The Angel of Kobane has never been explicitly named and the only known picture is most likely of another person entirely, she could indeed be The Bride.

But there's another thing they have in common. Most likely, neither one exists.

**Not just improbable, but "Impossible"**

While the video has been well received on the internet, experts are more sanguine. In fact, most of them have dismissed the video as a fake. We contacted John Adams, a retired Navy Seal and veteran of the Iraq War, to tell us why.

"This isn't what real fighting looks like," he told us after examining the video. "This is pure Hollywood... It's not how an expert fighter would attack seven armed opponents."

When asked what he would have done, Adams laughed. "What they said. ISIS may be [brutal], but they're not stupid. You can't fight seven guys covering each other like that. The best option is a human shield, but that won't work when they're all willing to die."

The official position of the US government is that the video is a forgery. CIA spokeswoman Julia Grouse stated that, "It is not just improbably for a solitary unarmed woman to violently escape as seen in [the video]... it's impossible."

Though the CIA refused to explain the logic of their analysts, Adams had a pretty good idea.

"First off, she's wearing ballistic fists," Adams explained. A ballistic fist is a gauntlet with a firearm in it, meant to augment a punch with a bullet or shotgun shell. They are often seen in movies and video games. "In real life, nobody uses them. The recoil of that is going to be like hitting a brick wall. It's not a practical weapon."

Adams also took issue with The Bride's fighting style. "It's not something you use against people with guns. You'd get shot. In fact, she should have been hit." He pointed out several points in the video in which the IS fighters shoot directly at The Bride with no effect. "You can't miss at that range."

When we asked if it could be body armor, Adams shook his head, "Not with that outfit."

"She simply moves too fast and hits too hard. If this was done by someone doing special effects- and it almost certainly was- then they went a little overboard making their protagonist the powerful one."

**Ripped from Fiction?**

Several internet communities have theorized that not only is The Bride fake, she's also not even original.

As mentioned before, the fight itself is reminiscent of a Quentin Tarantino film, which themselves are inspired by earlier action movies from Asia. A focus on close combat, lots of blood, and one protagonist beating several unskilled fighters. All that's missing is the cinematography, which is more like a mockumentary.

There are several parts of the video that seem to be not-so-subtle nods to popular culture. The Bride's hair briefly appears to catch fire, like Dragonball Z's Super Saiyan. The ballistic fist works similarly to the one in the video game Fallout. The camera being knocked over and ending the video is a hallmark of the horror genre.

The internet, in a typical frenzy, has come up with the idea that The Bride is a direct copy of an existing character. Most of these are anime characters, like Miu Furinji and Leone, but a hero from the MMO League of Legends is also a common guess.

Movie critic Erick Reyes dismisses the wilder speculation. He says that while there are elements of other works in it, it's not fair to call the video a knockoff.

**Joke, Hoax, or Propaganda?**

The general consensus is that the video is fake, but its exact nature is still a matter of debate. Who made it and why.

When pressed, Grouse stated that the CIA had "no official position on the matter."

Reyes believes that the video was an attempt to cash in on the attention given to IS. "It's tasteless, but potentially could bring in a lot of publicity, and I suspect we'll see an announcement from someone shortly."

But who made it? Reyes opined, "I don't think it would be a major studio, probably an independent firm."

Adams has a different opinion. "This is psychological warfare. This is ISIS propaganda. This is not a film school project."

He explained that the video fits the Islamic State's admittedly erratic pattern perfectly. "It's got high production values, it's professional, it looks good, but it doesn't make a lot of sense. There's a lot of wow factor and it's sickening but it doesn't have any other sort of impact. It doesn't seem like it should exist but it makes sense to ISIS."

A CIA analyst, who wishes to remain anonymous, disagrees. He stated that this does not fit the IS pattern as they see it. IS presents a strong, united front, urging others to join on their glorious jihad. This video goes against it, showing defiance against an unstoppable force and showing a symbol of the West triumphing over the Islamic State.

Whoever she may or may not be, The Bride has captured our imagination, a symbol of defiance against the extremist Islamic State, even if she is only fiction. The question of where the video came from and why is still open.


	14. The Briefing

These were actually written concurrently with the chapters in question, although I'll admit that they're pretty rough.

Virtual cookie to whoever correctly guesses who the two characters in this chapter are based on. I ended up going back on it later, though

Canon: Full.  
Context: Concurrent with Chapter 4-1  
Perspective: Third-person.

**Emergence: Aside  
The Briefing**

The White House

A CIA man and a naval officer walk into the White House sounded like the beginning of a bad joke. The naval officer remarked this to his counterpart, who reminded him that what they were about to tell the President sounded like a worse joke.

"Sit down, gentlemen," the President said cordially. "What do you have for me today?"

"Are you familiar with The Bride, sir?" the CIA man began.

"The one in Syria?"

"Yes, sir."

The President nodded. "I am. Have you figured out who made the video?"

The two intelligence officers shared a look. "It is our belief that the video was not faked, sir."

His voice was grim. "Explain."

"We have drone imagery of the event," The man from the CIA opened a folder and placed several greyscale pictures on the President's desk. He pointed out several features. "This is infrared imagery. The brighter thermal bloom we believe is The Bride."

He pushed that picture aside and arranged several more. These all showed, in greyscale detail, blood splatters from the men as they were hit by the woman in yellow (or, in this case, light grey). "Sir, these frames match up exactly to the ones in the video. She is the only one in the area. It is not staged, and it could not have been anyone else."

"So who is she?"

"The NSA ran voiceprint recognition," the CIA man explained, deliberately using the common term rather than the technical one. "They've matched her voice with a 90% probability to that of a US national. We know that she's still within the continental United States. It cannot be her."

"So your voiceprint doesn't work?" the President asked.

"The NSA's, sir, and not exactly," he replied, letting a little institutional rivalry leak through. He collected the drone pictures and put another three on the table.

"I think your manga collection got mixed up with your intel report," the President said lightly, holding up one of the pictures.

The CIA man shook his head. "No, sir. That is Yang Xiao Long, the most probable identity of The Bride. And a fictional character voiced by the American in question."

"You're joking."

"We've actually been tracking her teammates- from the show, that is-, or people we thought were her teammates," he explained quickly. "Over the past month and a half, we have observed all three of them at various locations around the world."

"Her actual teammates?" the President asked. "Not just people dressed up in costumes?"

"We've spotted some of them who did not appear to have any other identities, and the NSA intercepted some very strange communications. We even think the Russians tried to grab one of them, but failed. Unfortunately we haven't been able to confirm any of it as authentic until now."

"Are you telling me there's an anime character running around in Raqqa beating up ISIS? And that the rest of her team has been escaping into our reality over the past two months? Gentlemen, I don't mean to doubt your competence, but I fell as if this is some kind of joke that is going over my head."

"Mister President, in a situation like this it is critical that we focus on what we do know, not what we don't," the naval officer said, speaking up for the first time. "We know that there is a woman who killed seven ISIS fighters at close range. We strongly suspect she is still there and still fighting. We strongly suspect that she is superhuman. We believe she is a fictional character that has somehow ended up in our world. We believe that she is not the only one."

"Okay. So we know there's someone superhuman running around in Raqqa." The President leaned back. "Gentlemen, I have heard some crazy things in this office, but I think this tops the charts."

The CIA man and the naval officer shared a look. The naval officer said, "Sir, I request authorization to retrieve this individual and bring her back to the United States."

"So far, we have avoided direct involvement in that conflict," the President stated. "What you are asking for constitutes direct involvement."

He stood up and paced the room. "It would be a questionable act. For all we haven't done in Syria, there's one white American girl and suddenly we invest everything to rescue her."

"No sir, it's one unexplained superhuman-"

"If your intelligence is accurate. I don't see how it can be."

"We know what has happened, we don't know how or why. Retrieving the girl could give us those answers."

"This would not be the first time we've done this, sir," the naval officer pointed out.

"James Foley died anyway, and the situation was much more favourable for us at the time."

The CIA man tried another approach. "Sir, if our information is accurate, this is a seventeen-year-old girl, far away from home in one of the worst places in the world. She's lost, she's scared, she's alone.

The President cut him off. "I have to put America, and the people of America first. With that said, you have a go. But I never authorized it."

"Yes, sir. Thank you."


	15. The Players

I'm really not happy with the CSIS arc at all. Consider them B-canon at best.

These were actually written concurrently with the chapters in question.

This chapter may have turned out a little more silly than I would have liked. I have no idea if CSIS actually has any institutional slang like that or not. I'm not really happy with my attempted reasoning, either. For these reasons, I'm declaring this (and the other CSIS) chapters semi-canon.

Canon: Partial (overridden by others, broad strokes only) [CSIS continuity]  
Context: Concurrent with Chapter 4-1  
Perspective: Third-person.

**Emergence: Aside  
The Players**

CSIS British Columbia Region Office

"We got confirmation, Mike," a short, clean-shaven and well-dressed man said, rolling his chair into the other man's cubicle.

"On what, Dave?" Mike asked. He was taller than Dave, but also larger. Unlike the other man, he was sloppily dressed, and his chair creaked as he leaned back in it. They shared a look. "Not Alumina, is it?"

"Yeah, it's Alumina," Dave replied grimly, using the agreed-upon code word. "Our friends down south were observing the area. They've confirmed the video."

"We've got to get her out of there," Mike said immediately. "We've got to get her out."

"Out of fucking Syria?" Dave rarely swore, but this was one of those times.

"I've got this figured out," Mike said, pulling Dave's chair into the cubicle and grabbing a few scribbled-on sheets of paper.

"Okay, look at this. We know the Team Fanboy is going to try something. As you know, we're still not allowed to wiretap them, so we don't know what they've been saying, but we know they called a former infantry soldier a few hours ago. Now, if you were them, where would you go?"

He didn't wait for a response, instead answering his own question. "Probably fly into Turkey, try to cross the border there. But I'd need to get money from my friends at Rooster Teeth first. Then try to cross the border, travel south toward Raqqa, and die a horrible death."

"Unless we stop them," Dave argued. "Then we run a standard extraction with special forces assets-"

"No. We can't do that."

"Well, no, but speaking in hypotheticals-"

Mike shook his head. "No, it's a terrible plan. The problem is that Yellow is going to freak the fuck out when she see's a heavily armed team of commandos. We need something, or someone, to calm her down. And nothing will do the job quite as well as her teammates."

"So why don't we just send them tickets in the mail," Dave said sarcastically.

"See, now you're thinking the right way!" Mike congratulated, deliberately ignoring the sarcasm. "We do. But we don't. Rooster Teeth does, only it's really us. Then our guys meet them over in Turkey and we handle it from there, with the three colours tagging along."

"Because they won't help if we just ask?"

"No. CSIS has done fuck all PR over the last few decades. They'll probably think it's some kind of ruse to put them all in a lab or something. But if our guys- well, technically the Forces guys- meet them under the right circumstances, then they'll be a lot more accepting."

"Mike, this is way out there," Dave replied, skeptical. "This is convoluted and messy. You want to use assets that aren't even ours. This is like CIA stuff, and not real CIA either. Movie CIA."

"Come on, remember the Canadian Caper? This is nothing compared to that."

"No, there were actually good reasons for doing that," Dave protested.

"We want her here," Mike replied. "We need to get her before she dies, or someone else gets her."

"You're becoming too personally attached," Dave warned.

"I'm not personally attached. Four superhumans from another world. They had so much to offer. And after this, they might even trust us enough to talk to us."

"Mike, you don't have the authority. I don't know if anyone has the authority."

A shrug. "Yeah. That's why you're going to take it upstairs."

"Why me? It's your plan!"

There was an awkward moment which Mike interrupted. "Yeah, but the boss actually _likes_ you."

"Alright, we'll see what he thinks." Dave sighed before he grabbed the sheets of paper and rolled back to his own cubicle to turn them into something presentable.


	16. All Dressed Up

These were actually written concurrently with the chapters in question.

The next part of the CSIS arc. These ended up shorter than I had hoped, which is another reason why I'm not happy with them and I've demoted them.

Canon: Partial (overridden by others, broad strokes only) [CSIS continuity]  
Context: Between 4-2 and 4-3  
Perspective: Third-person.

**Emergence: Aside  
All Dressed Up**

CSIS British Columbia Region Office

"So, Dave, how'd it go?" Mike asked, intercepting the other man outside their boss' office.

"Preliminary approval," Dave replied as they headed back to their cubicles. "We're go to start positioning assets, but we can't actually begin the operation until we get final approval."

"Great!" Mike replied. His chair groaned loudly when he dropped on top of it. "Okay, first off, we need to get JTF2 positioned at Incirlik-"

"Mike, you know we can't do that."

He tilted his head. "You're right, technically we can't. But I talked to Harold and he's setting it up as we speak."

"Ah, okay. What about the rest of Alumina?"

"We intercepted an email sent to Rooster Teeth while you were talking to the boss," Mike replied. "The care package is being packed up right now. They'll have it by the end of the day."

"Passports?"

"Being rushed from Ottawa as we speak."

"Do you think this will actually work?"

"If I didn't, would we be trying it?"


	17. With Nowhere To Go

These were actually written concurrently with the chapters in question.

I'm not really happy with the CSIS arc. I don't think it really gets anyone's reasoning or logic across well enough to not seem like an idiot ball tossed around, but YMMV.

Canon: Partial (overridden by others, broad strokes only) [CSIS continuity]  
Context: Between 4-4 and 4-5 (during flight)  
Perspective: Third-person.

**Emergence: Aside  
...With Nowhere To Go**

CSIS British Columbia Region Office

Their boss stomped in, looking pissed right off. He tossed a strongly-worded letter on their desk. "Call it off."

"What? Why?" Mike asked, taking the letter and skimming through it.

"I gave you conditional approval to start positioning assets, not sending people to fucking Turkey without my knowledge. It turns out we are stepping on some serious fucking toes now. You needed to go through proper channels-"

"But if we'd gone through proper channels-"

"Then we would have realized that the Americans had first dibs and aborted the operation!"

"We were first!" Mike objected, verbally nailing his boss to the wall. "You knew that! This was our op!"

"It was a badly planned, overly ambitious operation that the higher ups really, really didn't like," their boss told them. "We're done. Call it off."

Mike shrugged. "Well, we can't do that, because they've already left for Turkey."

"Can't you recall them?"

"They're not our assets. The Forces team was supposed to meet them there-"

"But they're called off, too. Do you have a fucking phone number?"

"What do we tell them? That they were being helped by CSIS, but now the US Government is taking care of it and they shouldn't worry about it?"

"You shouldn't have deceived them in the first place," their boss snapped. Normally he was more tactful, but most likely his boss hadn't been too nice about the whole thing. "Honestly, this is like the product of someone who read too much Tom Clancy and watched Argo."

"You approved it," Dave reminded him.

"I gave you approval to start planning and pre-positioning, not to go off and start the entire fucking operation!"

"Jim, you know if we didn't move we would have missed her for sure, right?"

"And now we're gonna miss her anyway. Look, get your asses down to Washington. We need to coordinate, get this together. And if you can, get those idiots out of there."


	18. Passing In The Night

These were actually written concurrently with the chapters in question.

Very short.

Canon: Full.  
Context: Between 4-4 and 4-5 (during flight)  
Perspective: Third-person.

**Emergence: Aside  
Passing in the Night**

Incirlik AFB

There was not one but two unusual sights at Incirlik today.

The first was the C-5 Galaxy, or rather what was rolled out of it. It was a Black Hawk, or at least something similar to it. Much of the hull had angled surfaces, and the rotors were different from a normal Black Hawk. The helicopter was only visible briefly before it was wheeled into a protected shelter, and about a dozen people in unmarked uniforms followed it into the hangar.

The second was the five tough-looking men wearing unmarked uniforms who refused to say where they were from. They had been on the base for a few days, keeping to themselves. Today, though, they were leaving, and dejection showed through their stone-cold faces as they stepped aboard the CC-130 transport that left shortly after C-5 had landed.

The teams had walked past each other, both with their own suspicions, and neither wanting to voice them.


	19. The Human Factor

These were actually written concurrently with the chapters in question, although this particular one was delayed and revised to make the scene better. It's kind of rough, but I think this manages to make the SEALs look a lot better and still remain similar enough to the original.

Fun fact: I have my playlist set to shuffle. The I Burn Remix started playing while I was writing toward the end of this chapter.

Canon: Full, and overrides the end of Chapter 4-6.  
Context: Concurrent with 4-6  
Perspective: Third-person.

**Emergence: Aside  
The Human Factor**

October 15, 2014  
Raqqa, Syria

"Area secure, you are clear to approach the HVI," a voice buzzed in Lieutenant Commander Mason Hunt's earpiece.

"Copy that," he replied, waving his small fireteam forward. The team consisted of himself, Lieutenant George Jackson, and Petty Officers Jacob Ullman and Ricardo Hernandez. They were all members of DEVGRU, the elite and secretive SEAL team. The retrieval team was actually larger, with support elements positioned to cover them, and also they had dedicated air cover from a pair of MQ-9 Reaper drones above.

In fact, some of the recent bombing had been to cover their approach. They had landed in Raqqa in a modified UH-60 stealth helicopter earlier that day. The operation had been hastily planned and executed and Hunt wasn't happy with that. He also thought the whole situation was fucking insane, but he knew enough not to question what he had been shown. Classified surveillance footage didn't lie.

They stood up and marched out of the alley, slowly approaching the HVI. They kept their weapons down, even in the middle of Raqqa, and tried to appear as non-threatening as possible. That wasn't easy for the SEALs to do.

She was in an old Toyota Hilux, probably trying to get the thing started. Even covered in dirt, she was pretty, and somehow her bright blonde hair was spotless. Hunt mentally chided herself. This girl was no older than his daughter.

"Yang Xiao Long?" Hunt called. There was no reply. Most likely, she couldn't hear him or was too busy concentrating to notice.

"Bravo one, be advised, large hostile patrol approaching," the voice buzzed again. "Patrol has vehicles and heavy armament. Support teams and aerial assets moving to intercept. Recommend you pick up the pace, over."

"Roger that." Slowly and cautiously, Hunt stepped toward the vehicle. He waved at the girl inside, and she didn't notice. Taking a deep breath, he knocked gently on the window. It was potentially dangerous, but not that dangerous.

Or so he thought. The HVI flung the door open when she noticed him, and he went flying, slamming into the ground. He groaned in pain, feeling that something was definitely broken. "Fuck..."

As the two petty officers rushed to the aid of their CO, Lieutenant Jackson moved toward the HVI. "Are you Yang Xiao Long?" he asked, tone serious but controlled.

"Who wants to know?" the girl asked threateningly.

Jackson stopped, keeping his distance. "I'm a Navy SEAL. My name is Lieutenant George Jackson-"

The girl interrupted him. "You're a furry sea mammal?"

During the exchange, a group of ISIS fighters had moved onto the street. With most of the American overwatch occupied with the large patrol, they were free to appear from the woodwork. In fact, the fighters actually lived there, and had just received the message to attack the "people who are probably Americans".

Hunt and Jackson noticed the hostiles down the street at about the same time. Their actions were automatic, practised, and possibly the worst ones they could have taken in the situation.

Lieutenant Jackson moved to cover the HVI, grabbing her arm and trying to pull her into cover.

Lieutenant Commander Hunt raised his rifle, flipped off the safety, and fired.

The girl pulled away from Jackson, driving her fist into his face and pulverizing his skull. He died instantly. She spun around, punching in the air toward Hunt. A spray of rounds from Ember Celica blew a hole in his chest. He, too, died instantly.

Petty Officer Ricardo Hernandez was standing, with his gun ready, but his attention was divided between the hostiles at the end of the road and the aggressive, panicking HVI. He realized immediately that his first priority was the HVI. He shouted, "Miss Long! Calm down! We're on your side!"

Either the girl didn't hear him or didn't care. He raised his arm to block her punch, but it didn't do any good, the impact simply shattering his radius and ulna. Another punch to the chest broke several of his ribs, and a third to the head shattered his skull and eviscerated his brain.

Petty Officer Ullman, now covered in blood from his CO and fellow petty officer, attempted to stand up, but never made it. The girl grabbed him and slammed him against the wall of the building he was standing beside. Even though he was dead by the second impact, she drove his body into the wall three more times.

As the girl started scavenging the bodies for supplies, a Hellfire missile fired from an MQ-9 Reaper obliterated the ISIS fighters at the end of the street. Although it had taken less than thirty seconds for the operator to acquire the target and send the firing command and the missile to make the drop, it was thirty seconds too late.


	20. Critical Mission Failure

These were actually written concurrently with the chapters in question.

In this context, NSA means National Security Advisor, not National Security Agency.

Canon: Full.  
Context: Between 4-6 and 4-7  
Perspective: Third-person.

**Emergence: Aside  
Critical Mission Failure**

The White House

The most powerful man in the world, his National Security Advisor, a naval officer and a CIA officer watched the events unfold in near real time. From halfway across the world, the silent greyscale infrared imagery seemed cold and detached.

"She killed them, sir," the naval officer said quietly.

"I know," the President said solemnly. "Make sure they get they get the bodies."

"Of course, sir," he replied. The real reason, in his mind, had less to do with respect and more to do with deniability.

"Sir, she just killed-"

The President shook his head. "It was an accident."

"She didn't realize they were friendly," The CIA officer agreed. "She's going through incredible stress. I'm amazed she's made it this far."

"I want her on friendly soil ASAP," the President said resolutely. "We have to try again. Make sure not to spook her."

"And risk losing more men?"

The President was reluctant, hesitant. "Yes, Admiral, and risk losing more men. We can't leave her there, and we can't just eliminate her."

"Sir, there may be a better option," the National Security Advisor mentioned.

"Oh?"

"CSIS had their own operation going," she explained.

"CSIS?" the President asked. "That's the Canadians, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Why wasn't I informed?" the President asked, annoyed.

"A representative from CSIS was supposed to show up an hour ago," she told him.

"You said had?"

"They've called off the operation, but some of their assets may still be in place."

"JTF2 is good, but they've got the same problem," the Admiral disagreed. "Everyone looks the same to her anyway."

"No, sir, we believe-"

The intercom beeped. "Mister President, the Canadian intelligence officer has arrived."

"Send him in."

"Sorry, sirs, my flight was delayed," a man with an askew tie and large briefcase said, entering the room. "Oh, sorry. I'm Harry Iverson, Director of the British Columbia branch of CSIS."

"Take a seat, Mister Iverson," the President greeted in a businesslike fashion. "Are you aware of the current situation?"

"You sent a team in to retrieve Miss Xiao Long, correct?"

The Americans exchanged glances before the naval officer spoke up. "They made contact approximately five minutes ago. An Islamic State patrol appeared, surprising the team. The HVI panicked and killed them."

"I'm sorry, sir," he replied solemnly after a moment. "But if I may be honest, this is something we were afraid of."

"We had taken steps to prevent it, but accidents do happen," the naval officer admitted.

"I was told some of your assets were still in place," the President said to the Canadian. "Please explain."

"Technically, they're not our assets," the CSIS regional director said reluctantly. "It's a group of three civilians that we provided funding and supplies to. They were supposed to meet with our task force at the Turkish border before the operation was called off-"

"So they're working for you?"

He gulped. "No. They were to meet with our assets in Turkey and they would have been briefed at that point."

"Where are they now?"

He gulped. "Somewhere in Syria."

"Well, that's-"

"Mister Iverson," the President interrupted. "You said these were civilians. Who are they?"

He opened his briefcase and removed several folders, passing them out. "Two of them are Canadian nationals. The one on top is Joeseph Stevenson, a former Corporal in the Canadian Forces- Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. Medically discharged after being wounded in Afghanistan."

"Who's this guy? He looks like a college student," the NSA mentioned, showing the second picture.

"That's correct. Samuel Georgeas, an engineering student at UBC. Fairly unremarkable."

She nodded, flipping to the next page. "And that's... that's fucking Ruby Rose! Uh, excuse me, sir. She's in country?"

He nodded. "Our intent was for all three of them to arrive in Turkey and meet with our team, but for unknown reasons she was the only one to make the trip."

"And you just trusted them to make the trip of their own accord?" the CIA man criticized.

"Our thinking was that they wouldn't trust us and would try to run rather than cooperate," Iverson said diplomatically. "I will admit it was probably a mistake, and a decision made without my consent."

"They have Ruby with them," the President said. "Do you think that they would be able to make contact successfully?"

"Yes, sir, I think so," Iverson said confidently.

"Okay, we need to get them to meet," the naval officer said immediately. "The HVI is already on her way out of Raqqa, and she's headed the right direction. We can cover her easily. But your guys-"

"Technically not ours."

"Your guys we need to get in touch with. We need to tell them where the HVI is headed and where to meet her, and we need to direct them to extraction. After that, we fly them back to Incirlik and get them on a transport stateside."

"Sounds like a plan," the CIA officer agreed. "You guys do have communication with them, right?"

"Probably," Iverson replied. "We gave them satphones, and we have their numbers now, but we haven't tried it yet. But, almost certainly, yes."

"Do you think this will work?" the President asked.

"Good probability and minimal risk to us," the naval officer told him.

"Okay, do it," the President ordered after a moment. He turned to Iverson. "Unless you have any objections?"

"No, neither myself nor my country has any objection," Iverson replied.

"Then get to it, gentlemen."


	21. Meanwhile

While they're here, what's going on back home? Is there a home to go back to?

RWBY is still quite difficult to write, but I tried. It may have come out a little more shipteasy than intended.

Canon: Full.  
Context: post-Stolen Flame  
Perspective: Third-person.

**Emergence: Aside  
Meanwhile**

As Weiss slowly woke up, she became aware of something poking her in the side. Half-asleep, she rolled over, subconciously trying to get away from the thing digging into her side. Instead, something kept poking her in the back instead.

The intermittent pressure forced her further into wakefulness, and she became aware of something hissing with the pokes. In her not-quite-awake state, she guessed that it was maybe something leaking or some kind of machinery.

"Pssst!" Ruby hissed, poking the white-haired heiress. "Weiss!"

She blinked, opening her eyes, coming face-to-face with a very wide awake Ruby.

"Hey Weiss!" the girl whispered.

"Did you really wake me up just to say hello?" Weiss snapped, though it came out as more of a mumble.

"I can't sleep," Ruby replied sadly.

"So?" Weiss snap-mumbled.

"Well, I thought we could talk about things, but if you don't want to that's okay, I'll just lie here until-"

Weiss started to sigh, but it turned into a yawn halfway through. "What's bothering you, Ruby?"

"I miss home," the crimsonette replied. Weiss said nothing, so she continued, "I miss Taiyang and I miss Zwei and-"

"You miss Yang?" Weiss asked, confused. Because of a combination of sleepiness and deliberate apathy, she'd only heard half of what Ruby said.

"Not Yang, Taiyang!" Ruby replied a little bit too loudly. "Our dad!"

The heiress winced. "Ruby..."

"Sorry!" Ruby whispered. "I know I was away for months at Beacon, but I miss Patch and everyone there now."

"That makes sense, I suppose," Weiss replied, but she was too tired to really articulate why that was.

Ruby's face brightened. "But it's gonna be okay because we're gonna find a way back and it'll be really happy when I get to see them again after all this."

"What if we can't get back?" It came out almost completely unintelligible.

"Don't be silly, of course we're gonna find a way back," the crimsonette replied cheerfully. "If we start thinking we can't, then we'll stop trying and we won't be able to. But if we keep trying we'll make it happen."

"You're really optimistic about this, aren't you?"

Ruby took it as a complement. "Thanks. What about you, Weiss?"

"Hmm?"

"What about you? What do you miss about Remnant?"

It was too early, Weiss decided, for a question like that. All she could bring up were the things that stood out most- the things she hated. "I can't think of anything."

"Why not?" Ruby asked, confused.

"Here, its..." Weiss searched for the right words, which was easier said than done in the middle of the night. "...different. I feel more free, more unburdened here than I ever did on Remnant."

Ruby looked worried. "You don't like this place more than home, do you?"

"I don't know, Ruby," she replied honestly. "Home doesn't mean the same thing to me as it does to you."

The crimsonette blinked, and she continued. "Home means having my life laid out for me. Home means having to be the poster child for the company. Home means taking my father's harsh words and pretending nothing happens. Home means having to act a certain way, _think_ a certain way. Home means regimentation and appearances, not love and happiness."

Ruby looked like she was going to cry. "I never realized your life was so sad, Weiss."

"It's not so bad. You get used to it." Even now, it sounded hollow and

"You know, after this, you could stay with us," Ruby offered awkwardly. "I mean, I know it's not fancy but-"

"That would never work and you know it," Weiss snapped, more harshly now that she was more awake. She quickly changed the topic. "I wonder how everyone is doing back at Beacon?"

"Yeah, me too," Ruby admitted. "I bet Jaune is getting a lot better at swordfighting like a knight and Nora is probably still blowing stuff up and eating pancakes and Ren is like "Nora..." and Nora is like "Okay Ren!" and Pyrrha is Jaune's best friend."

"That... didn't make any sense," Weiss replied honestly.

"I guess," Ruby replied. "But I think everybody was sad at first when we went missing but they're searching for us and maybe they've found out that we ended up here and they're trying to find a way to get us back."

"I highly doubt that." Even half-asleep, she could be cynical.

"Come on, Weiss," Ruby whined. "Don't be such a downer."

"Fine. Maybe they are." Weiss replied. She was still very sleepy, and getting tired of the conversation. "Ruby?"

"Yeah, Weiss?"

"Do you think we could continue this in the morning? It's-" Weiss checked the clock. "It's four AM."

"Okay! Night-night, Weiss!" Ruby rolled over and almost instantly fell asleep.

"Dunce," Weiss whispered, closing her eyes.

* * *

"I thought I might find you up here," Yang called, shutting the door to the roof access. She strode toward the cat faunus sitting near the edge and sat down beside her.

The day was overcast and the stars were faint, though the moon shone through. The lights of the city were brighter, creating a glow as they reflected off the clouds. The apartment building wasn't that tall, but neither were the buildings around it. The roof had a good view of the city, bright and bustling with life.

"Couldn't sleep?" Blake asked.

Yang nodded.

"Raqqa?"

"Not this time," she replied hesitantly.

Blake raised an eyebrow and one of her cat ears twitched. "No?"

"No," the blonde replied. "No, this time it's how we got here... why we're here."

"None of us know."

"Exactly," she replied. "Don't tell me you haven't thought about it, Blake."

The other girl leaned back. She admitted quietly, "It has been bothering me."

"See? Knew it." Yang smiled, but it was a thin, sad smile, something that struck Blake as unusual for her.

The cat faunus knew her friend hadn't came back from Raqqa the same. But none of them were the same anymore, were they? She knew how much trauma could change someone.

She sighed. "I guess I've just been putting it off as some sort of random chance. Maybe the act of some malicious deity."

"Do you believe in those superstitions?"

"I don't know if calling them superstitions is right anymore," Blake replied. "I mean, maybe it really was some god or spirit or angel or something..."

"But if it wasn't?" she asked rhetorically after a pause, tracing a circle with her finger. "I mean, none of us remember what happened just before we ended up here. But before that..."

"Torchwick?" Yang asked in disbelief. "You think Torchwick could have done it?"

"Not him personally, but we have no idea how deep that conspiracy goes," Blake replied. "I know we haven't watched it yet, and I don't know what counts as real anymore, but in the show Torchwick was implied to have some deep connections. But if we assume at least some of that is true, maybe he found a way to get rid of us by sending us here."

"I'm not really following your logic," Yang said. Seeing the disappointed look on the faunus' face, she added, "I mean, Earth with all their science and people has no idea about what brought us here. How would a bunch of criminals do it?"

"Maybe they kidnapped some genius scientist, or found an ancient artifact." Blake shrugged. "Yeah, you're probably right. Maybe I'm just being paranoid."

"That night still bothering you, huh," Yang remarked, taking a guess at what her friend was really worried about.

Blake nodded. "For all we know, Torchwick and the White Fang... they're all still out there. And we're sitting here, helpless to do anything about it."

"I'm sure someone's doing something about it," Yang said as reassuringly as she could, which she guessed was not very.

"But what if they're not?" Blake asked. "What if the White Fang are taking over Vale right now? We can't do anything about it!"

"And we shouldn't worry about it, either," Yang replied. "You've just got to trust that things are okay back... back home."

"Home," Blake sniffed. "We're never going back home."

"Hey, you never know," Yang replied, her attempt at false cheerfulness failing. "But between you and me, I don't think so either."

There was a long silence. Finally, Yang said quietly, "Well, in terms of new homes, it could be worse, right?"

"I guess," Blake replied, standing up. "At least we've got each other, right?"

"Yep," Yang said, putting an arm around Blake. "Everything's going to be just fine."

Blake could tell by her tone that it was forced and dishonest. "Really?"

"No, but it can't get any worse."


	22. The Night That Never Happened

I was re-reading the earlier chapters, and I'm kind of trying to bring some of that feeling back. I don't think this turned out very well, but... eh.

Standard disclaimer about underage drinking. I think it's reasonable, still not a good idea but something they would do, in this situation.

To clarify, RWBY has not watched either volume yet. Ruby has seen parts of Volume 1 in the first arc, but has avoided watching the rest of it. Nobody has seen anything but bits of Volume 2.

Canon: Mostly.  
Context: Post-Stolen Flame  
Perspective: First-person specified in chapter

**Emergence: Aside  
The Night That Never Happened**

_**Sam**_

"Hi, guys!" I greeted as I stepped into Ben's apartment. I dropped two bags on the table.

"Great, you're going to make a mess of the apartment," Ben grumbled.

"Oh, relax, Ben," Jen chided. "I think we all deserve a break."

"What's this?" Ruby asked excitedly, going through the bags.

"Booze, mostly," I replied, taking out a few bottles of Corona.

"You know we're underage, right?" Weiss reminded us.

"I've been to Raqqa, I think I deserve a beer," Yang snapped, yanking one of the bottles out of my grip.

I pointed at Yang before taking one too. "What she said."

"I don't drink," Cliff reminded me.

"Tonight you're fucking drinking." I tossed him a beer. I grabbed another one and tossed it to Ruby. "You too."

Ruby looked at Yang, who replied, "Your choice, Rubes."

I cracked mine open. "Look, we're all here, we're all together, we made it through hell, let's fucking celebrate."

_**Blake Belladonna**_

"I hate this movie," I said after about half an hour minutes of trying to watch it with everyone else.

"You read Ninjas of Love, but you hate Kick-Ass?" Sam objected.

"Well, yes," I replied, cringing at the idiot on the screen.

"Isn't that book smut?" Cliff asked.

"What's smut?"

"Well, you know, lots of sex-"

"No!" I replied, a little too quickly, maybe. "Why would you think that?"

"Fan theory," Cliff replied. "But really, why don't you like Kick-Ass?"

"Because everyone in it is an idiot," Weiss replied before I could say anything. I noticed her usually very pale cheeks were going a bit red from the alcohol. "Even though they have no abilities, they try to act like they do, in order to live their fantasies."

"Isn't that like, exactly what Jaune did?" Cliff pointed out.

Isaac shook his head. "No, Jaune faked his transcripts, but he actually had potential, so it's actually the opposite."

"He did what?!" Weiss screamed, outraged. I forced myself to be impassive. He may have lied his way in, but I wasn't exactly innocent either.

"So, Weiss," Sam asked, shaking his bottle at her. "No white knight?"

"White knight?" I asked. I know that phrase had connotations here that it didn't on Remnant, and some that it did.

"It's the ship name for Jaune x Weiss," he explained.

"Guys, I'm trying to watch the movie," Ruby muttered.

"What do ships have to do with this?" Weiss asked, moving away.

"Not like a ship that goes on the water ship, like a relationship ship," Cliff explained, balancing an orange on his bottle. "It means romance in fics basically."

"Why would I want to be with that idiot?" Weiss snapped. "Especially knowing that he lied his way into Beacon."

"Aw, come on, you'd be a cute couple," Yang teased. I knew she'd already had more than anyone else. I wondered if she was drinking to forget or if she always drank that much.

Weiss glared at her. "No. Just no."

_**Sam**_

"You know, we got lucky in Syria," I told Isaac over a beer. We were sitting in the corner, away from most of the chaos. "In fact, I think we got lucky through the whole thing."

"Huh?"

"Were you even listening?" I hissed.

"Not really," he replied infuriatingly.

"Look, remember how we were planning to get Weiss out of Donetsk, but someone else already did it and we met in Kiev?" I explained, asking rhetorically. "I don't remember everything, but Cliff explained how if he would have tried to get her out Donetsk, everything would have gone horribly wrong."

"I guess."

"Then there was Blake in Tokyo, who ran into those nekko-maki-"

"Nekomimi."

"Gesundheit."

He shook his head. "No, it's nekomimi. Nekko-maki would be some kind of cat sushi."

"Whatever. My point is, Tokyo was easy. Even the part that we were worried about, leaving the country, worked out fine."

"Okay?"

"I can't help but feel that we almost fucked the Syria mission," I said. I think that's what I was trying to get at. "Look, we didn't really have good plans. We bumbled our way through it. Sometimes things were lined up in our favour- okay, usually they were. Now that I think of it, the stakes were pretty low in Ukraine and really low in Japan."

"Sure."

"Then Syria comes around. We're overconfident, we don't have a plan. Joe tells us he doesn't know how to do it, tries to get us to give up. We think we can do it, even though we really can't. We don't try to get the proper help. If we had fucked up, if things hadn't gone the way they had, it would have... well, it would have been so much worse."

"You're assuming it's luck," Isaac said finally after a pause. "I mean, what if it was actually set up to be this way."

"Card stacked in our favour?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"I've thought about it," I replied. "And you're probably right. Maybe."

_**Ruby Rose**_

"Ruby, you flew back on an airplane, right?" Weiss asked suddenly as she poured two funny looking drinks.

I shrugged wobbilyly and took one of the cups. "Yeah. I like it."

She glared at me. "What? It was horrible!"

I think Weiss was drunk because she wasn't as dignified as usual and she was kind of uncoordinated and less pale. I mean I guess I'd probably had too much too because I felt funny and I guess that was what drunk felt like.

She ranted, "We were packed really tight, the food was horrible, it was noisy, and too hot, and noisy-"

I replied, "Oh. My flight wasn't like that. We had pods."

"What?" she snapped. "Why did you get to fly... to fly... the nice flight?"

"Business class?" I asked.

"Yes! I had to fly economy!"

"I had to fly economy," I imitated, laughing, doing my best impression of a haughty heiress, which probably wasn't very good.

"It's not funny," she snapped.

"Come on, Weiss, it couldn't have been that bad," I said, trying to make her feel better. "It wasn't even a day."

"Well, that's one nice thing about the so-called airliners here," she reluctantly agreed.

"Yeah." See an airliner on Remnant means an airship that carries passengers between the kingdoms. I guess the idea is the same but they're a lot slower and a lot more comfortable. "Did you like the takeoff? I liked the takeoff."

"No. I did not like the takeoff."

"You're no fun."

"I was thinking about other things at the time."

I leaned against the counter. "Like what? Tell me, Weiss, tell me!"

She sighed. "Ruby, I landed in a war."

"I went to a war!" I objected. It was really bad and I didn't want to think about it right now.

"Yes, but this is different," Weiss replied. "I met a girl, Katya-"

"Did you kiss?" I stuck out my tongue.

"No," she snapped. "No, she lost her entire family. And I know she wasn't the only one. All over some petty dispute that they're supposed to take some side on. It's... too familiar."

What she said would have made sense but at the time I didn't want to think about it. "Why are we talking about depressing stuff? Can we not talk about depressing stuff?"

She looked at her now-empty glass. "I suppose."

_**Cliff**_

"You know, I don't think that care package came from Rooster Teeth," Isaac said.

"Because it would have been really fucking expensive?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "And then there's the miracle in Syria."

"Miracle?"

"Like, you know, not dying horribly."

"Ah," I replied. "What are you getting at?"

"I'm wondering if there was some higher power involved."

"Like God, or like America?" I asked. I knew I was completely out of it and talking out my ass at this point, but I didn't really care. "Except America is pretty much God at this point, at least for the purpose of this discussion."

"What."

"Okay, suddenly a package appears on your doorstep. It's really expensive and apparently came from nowhere. And then someone's protecting you through a shitty warzone fuckholeshit country with buildings exploding conveniently in front of you and shit."

"What?"

I continued. "It could be God helping you. Or it could be our frienemenemys in the CIA sending us shit and supporting them with drone strikes because it's not like anyone's going to notice anyway. And maybe they've got a vested interesting or something. Also we could be in a videogame."

"The fuck? Are you seriously-"

I cut him off with my hand in his face. "You don't know where this is coming from, so you attribute it to a higher power beyond your ability to control or comprehend. Both our Abrahamic friend and our southern neighbours fit that criteria."

"Cliff, you're drunk," Isaac pointed out.

"Actually, I have not had a single alcoholic beverage this evening," I replied truthfully. I was, however, really tired, and I had drank about two cases worth of sugared and non-sugared pop. "You're the one who's drunk."

"Yeah, why is that?"

"Because you've had half a case of beer?"

"No, I mean, why haven't you had anything." I'd actually given away my initial beer to Yang, who drained it in seconds.

"I don't drink." Not that I had any religious objections or anything, I just thought alcohol tasted like shit.

"Have a fucking beer," Sam said, shoving a bottle into my hands suddenly.

_**Yang Xiao Long**_

"Something's bothering you," Blake remarked.

"I think there's a thing bothering everyone here," I replied, opening a can of something.

"You're still thinking about the war in Syria, aren't you."

She wasn't wrong. I pointed at her. "You're really perceptive when you're drunk."

"I'm not drunk," she replied. "You've had a lot more than me."

"It's just that it was so horrible there. What's happening, and I feel like I'm responsible somehow. And I still feel really bad about that kid like Ruby, and punching people in the face." It was weird to feel bad about punching people in the face. At least for me.

"It's not easy," Blake said, remarkably perceptively.

"That's like, really profound." I pointed at her again. "How do you know that?"

"I was a member of the White Fang."

I spat out the stuff I was drinking. "Did you just say what I think you said?"

"Yes."

"Are you telling me this now because you trust me or because you think I won't remember it tomorrow?" I asked. "Because that's about fifty-fifty."

She raised an eyebrow. "Both?"

"Well, enough about our tragic pasts," I opened another can of something. It might have been the same can. "You're a kitty!"

"I'm a cat faunus," Blake replied. Why was she slurring her words a little. "We've literally just discussed this."

I laughed. "Can I play with your ears?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I shouldn't have to answer that," she snapped.

"But they look so soft and scratchable!" I tried to jump up and grab her ears but she ducked and I landed on the floor. "Blaaaake!"

"You deserved it."

_**Weiss Schnee**_

"May I have this dance?"

"What?"

I turned and Ruby was standing there, wobbling, looking very drunk. Her cheeks were bright red and she was wobbling. I can't believe we let her get into this state.

I snatched the cup of something from her hand and tossed it into the sink on the other side of the room.

"But that was Pepsi..." Ruby whined before repeating, "May I have this dance?"

"It's not a dance, Ruby," I told her.

"Oh." She looked disappointed. "Weiss?"

I sighed. "What?"

"My head hurts and the world is spinny," she told me, worried.

"That's because you're drunk. Was this your first time?"

"Yes. How much have I had?" she asked.

"Too much," I replied. I think I was actually supposed to ask her and she was supposed to answer.

"Oh," she replied, stumbling forward. "Weiss?"

"What?"

"Goodnight." Ruby flopped over almost on top of me. I was aware enough to catch her as she fell.

Fortunately, she wasn't that heavy. I dragged her over to the couch. "Yang, your sister-"

"Oh, did Ruby pass out?" Yang asked, slurring her words badly and moving over to make space. "I don't think that's supposed to happen."

"Your little sister is passed out drunk and that's your response?" I would have been screaming if the world would stop moving for a moment.

"She's a big girl. Old enough to make her own decisions. To drink or not to drink. To join a terrorist cult or not to join a terrorist cult," she replied distantly, staring into a bottle with one eye. Suddenly, she flinched. "Ow fuck."

I sighed and flopped down on the blanket nest on the floor. "You have got to me kidding me."

_**Ben**_

I surveyed the carnage of the apartment from the relative safety of the server room. I say relative safety, because Blake was curled up sleeping beside one of the server racks.

There were bottles and cans everywhere, broken glass in the sink, spills and stains on the floor and the furniture. There were empty pizza boxes and food on the floor. There had been a few attempts to clean up but they'd mostly just made things worse. The place smelled like stale alcohol.

Cliff, wisely, had left early. Isaac was passed out on the couch. Sam was asleep under the kitchen table. Ruby was passed out on top of Weiss on the floor. I heard puking coming from the bathroom, which must have been Yang.

"So, should we-" Jen asked from beside me.

"No, fuck this, I'm going to bed."


	23. Through The Looking Glass, Part One

I'm calling this full canon, but the characterization might be a little off. This section is like Weiss Reacts' bastard cousin.

Speaking of Weiss Reacts, who's read Weiss Reacts to Emergence?

Author: XCVG (that's me)  
Canon: Full.  
Context: Post-Stolen Flame  
Perspective: Third-person

**_Emergence: Aside_  
Through The Looking Glass, Part One**

"Okay, team," Ruby announced. They were gathered in Ben's living room, and they were the only ones in the apartment. "We're going to do this. I know it's going to be hard, but we're stronger as a team, and if we do this together we can do it."

"What exactly are we doing again?" Blake asked.

"Reviewing RWBY!" Ruby replied.

"Are we really going to do this?" Weiss asked, folding her arms. "What are we going to gain from it, anyway?"

"Knowledge!" Ruby replied. "By watching the show that shows our lives at Beacon and the happenings around us, we can gain-"

She was interrupted by a loud beeping sound. She zipped across the small apartment into the kitchen. "Popcorn's done!"

Ruby came out of the kitchen balancing a large bowl of popcorn, a bag of chips, several chocolate bars, a package of cookies, and a case of Coke.

"What is that?" Weiss asked as the crimsonette dumped the snacks unceremoniously on the table. "Is this supposed to be serious or a fun thing?"

"Come on, Weiss, there's no reason it can't be both," Yang replied, popping open a can of Coke.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to take notes," Weiss announced, grabbing a pen and paper from the kitchen before returning to the couch and sitting down beside Ruby.

Yang flopped down onto the couch beside her, pushing Weiss into Ruby as she did so. She snapped, "What the hell?"

"Geez, calm down, it's big enough for three," Yang dismissed.

"Actually, I think it's only intended for two," Blake pointed out.

"You're no fun," Yang grumbled, taking a spot beside Blake on the floor. She reached into the bowl of popcorn and shoved a handful into her mouth. "Thiff if good!"

"Can we please just get started now," Weiss complained.

"Fine," Ruby replied. She picked up the remote and pushed the "3" button, bringing the entertainment system to life. A Windows screen briefly flashed across the display before the familiar interface of XBMC took its place. She scrolled through the menus with the remote.

"This still disturbs me," Blake muttered quietly.

"What's that, kitty cat?" Yang asked.

"Please don't call me that."

"Sorry. Why is everyone so tense right now?" Yang asked.

"We're watching an animation that describes our lives, that is also a work of fiction," Blake tried to explain. "It raises many philosophical questions."

Ruby paused in her scrolling. "Wait, guys, should we do the trailers first?"

Before anyone could protest, Yang blurted out, "Sure, why not?"

Ruby fumbled with the remote. Blake handed her the keyboard. "You're going to need this."

"Uh..."

"The button with the waves," she explained.

"Right!" Once Ruby brought up the desktop, she quickly found and launched Firefox. She typed in "RWBY RED TRAILER" in the search and opened up the first video. It started autoplaying and she fullscreened it.

"Hey, I know this song, it's Red Like Roses," Yang remarked as soon as it started to play. She grabbed a handful of chips and shoved it in her mouth.

"Is that..." Ruby asked quietly.

"Yeah, it is..." Yang replied.

"Is what?" Weiss asked.

"Summer's grave," Yang whispered.

"Beowolves?" Blake asked.

"Beowolves," Ruby confirmed.

"Ruby, you never told me you were attacked by Beowolves!" Yang chided.

"I didn't think it was important at the time," she replied meekly.

"This is inaccurate," Weiss pointed out. "I've seen you fight those. It looks nothing like that."

"Yeah," Ruby muttered glumly. She perked up. "Next one is yours!"

"Everyone is entitled to their own sorrow, for the heart has no metrics or forms of measure. And all of it... irreplaceable," Blake read quietly.

"I remember this," Weiss said. "That was... I do not sound like that!"

"I didn't know you could sing, Weiss!" Ruby said excitedly. "Why don't you ever sing anymore?"

"I... I was forced into it," she replied.

"But do you like singing?"

"Sometimes," she replied quietly.

"It wasn't that fast," Weiss replied quietly.

"Ouch!" Yang exclaimed. "So that's how you got that scar?"

"Wait, shouldn't your Aura have protected you from that?" Ruby asked.

"I wasn't expecting it. And it hit me a lot harder than that."

"What is that, anyway?" she asked, pointing at the knight.

"It was a one-off showpiece, designed to be impressive and impressively lethal," Weiss explained, still cringing at the memory.

"These lyrics are sad," Ruby muttered before suddenly wrapping her arms around Weiss.

"What are you doing?"

"You looked sad. I'm giving you a hug!"

"I don't want a hug, you dolt!" she retorted, nevertheless hugging Ruby back.

Silently, Blake grabbed the keyboard and brought up the next trailer.

"Your hopes have become my burden. I will find my own liberation," Weiss read, managing to free herself from Ruby's grip. "Poignant."

"Adam," Blake muttered.

"Who?" Yang asked.

"Adam Taurus," she explained. "My partner and mentor in the White Fang. I trusted him once, and he turned out to be a monster."

"Hey!" Weiss shouted. "That's our train! You were the one behind that? How could you-"

"What happened to not caring about my past?" Blake retorted.

"Calm down, guys," Ruby urged. She grabbed a handful of popcorn. "We knew this could have dig up bad old memories. But we're together now and we can work it out together, okay?"

"I don't sound like that," Blake mentioned.

"No, you don't," Yang agreed.

"Wait, so Adam was the one who killed everyone on that train?" Weiss remarked.

"Yes," Blake replied sadly. "This was when I realized what we'd become. This was why I left."

"I want one of those," Yang said after seeing the big robot.

"I forgot how impressive he could fight," Blake commented. "So much potential gone to waste."

"You were the one who cut the cars apart?" Weiss asked, more softly this time.

"Yes. I just couldn't do it anymore."

"You look so sad in the video, Blake," Ruby said.

"It was a very emotional time," she replied quietly.

"All right, time for me!" Yang shouted, roughly grabbing the keyboard and skipping to the next video.

She read, ""Scathing eyes ask that we be symmetrical, one- well, I tried."

"You have a motorcycle?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, Bumblebee. My pride and joy... behind Ember Celica of course," she replied. "I miss it."

Ruby started to object, but she got cut off.

"Hey, that's Junior's club!" Yang remarked. "I think I know where this is going."

"Wait, Torchwick was there?" Weiss snapped. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"It never occurred to me," she replied. "I noticed someone there, but I didn't recognize him at the time and I barely remembered it. There's always someone meeting Junior."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Blondie?"

Ruby started laughing. "You actually did that?"

"It's one way to get an answer out of someone," she replied, uncharacteristically quiet.

"Who were you looking for?" Blake asked.

"My mom," she replied quietly.

"Yang!" Ruby whined. "I thought you gave up years ago?"

"No," she replied quietly. "No, I never did."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Wait, isn't-"

"We have different moms," Ruby explained. "Same dad but different moms."

"Oh." Weiss didn't apologize.

"Do you always flirt with guys twice your age?" Blake asked.

She smiled a thin smile. "Eh... you'll see."

"I was not expecting that."

"Yeah, show 'em who's boss!" Ruby called.

Yang slinked into a ball, edging toward Blake, muttering something.

"Yang, what's wrong?" the faunus asked.

"Yeah, I thought you liked fighting," Ruby said.

"Huh... yeah, I did," she replied quietly. "But after Raqqa, it's not the same anymore."

She paused. "Why did I start that fight? I could have got the information some other way."

"But beating up people is your thing!"

"I wish it wasn't!" she yelled.

"Yang," Blake said seriously. "It's not about what you know. It's about how you use it."

"Yeah," she replied quietly. "Thanks."

"You are pretty good, though," Ruby muttered. "And it's not the same here and there."

"See?" she called a few seconds later. "If you did that on Earth-"

"She wouldn't have a face," Yang snapped. "Most of her head would be somewhere on the wall behind her."

"I'm trying to help," Ruby said, downcast.

"I know. I'm sorry, Ruby."

"You blew up the club?" Weiss asked.

"I might have gone a little overboard," she replied.

"You know, you never did tell me what that long story was," Ruby mentioned.

"Eh, there really wasn't one."

"So, are we going to watch the actual show now?" Weiss asked.

"Not yet," Ruby answered, shaking the empty bowl. "More popcorn first!"

"Your sister is so immature," Weiss remarked.

"Better to enjoy it while you still can, Weiss," Yang replied darkly. "It doesn't last forever."


	24. It seemed like a nice choice at the time

Delays, delays, delays, but have a fan-contributed Aside in the meantime.

Author: Escudo  
Canon: Undefined  
Context: Between Stolen Flame and The New World  
Perspective: Third Person

**Emergence: Aside  
It seemed like a nice choice at the time**

It was a Saturday afternoon, and Team RWBY found themselves alone in their residence. Both Ben and Jen had to go out to do something important, and the other guys were busy catching up in their studies. So the girls were trying to pass the time as they could.

Ruby had suggested watching some movies on the TV, which could be useful too in showing them a bit more about Earth culture. The only problem was what to watch; Yang had the remote at the time, and she changed the channel whenever there was something either too violent or related to war, as it made her feel uncomfortable. And there was a disturbing amount of movies like that, they seemd to be nearly all from the USA.

"No." Yang said as she changed the channel. "No." She repeated and changed the channel again. "No..."

"Ugh! Seriously, Yang!" Weiss finally snapped. "Can you leave it in one channel for five minutes!"

"Well, sorry Weiss, but I don't feel like watching people killing each other any soon." Yang snapped back. She and Ruby were both on the ground while Weiss and Blake occupied the couch. "I want something to put my mind off that stuff. Is that so much to ask?"

She changed again, though this time seemed to be at the beginning of a movie. It depicted an open field, as the narrator started to speak. It showed then a kid walking his puppy around.

And then a big Golden Retriever jumped next to them. Followed by its owner. It quickly came clear that these two were the main characters.

Yang chuckled. "What a crazy dog."

"This seems nice." Ruby said. "A cute story about a dog. Wanna watch it, girls?" She asked looking at her teammates. Yang already seemed interested in it. Weiss half nodded while Blake just rolled her eyes and shrugged, so they didn't have any problem.

A montage of the man and his recent wife, and then it showed the film's title.

_"Marley and Me"_

* * *

The girls watched as the story went on. How they had come to adopt their new dog, called Marley, when it was still a puppy. Marley was... problematic, to say the least.

Ruby was practically squealing at the scene. "It's so cute! I love him!"

"I have to admit it, even if he causes a lot of trouble, he's quite endearing." Weiss admitted with a half smile on her face.

"And you, Blake?" Ruby turned to her teammate.

Blake, resting her chin on her hand and the elbow on the couch's arm, just shrugged. She seemed to be the least enthusiastic of the four right now. "Meh. It's the same to me."

Yang looked up to her. "I take it you aren't a dog person, right?"

"You could say that." Blake responded. And before Yang said something else, she added. "And it's not because I'm a cat faunus, alright? I had a bit of a bad experience with one when I was little, I don't hate dogs, just don't want them near me. Or my stuff." She sat upright and crossed her arms, defensively. Yang just shrugged.

"I wasn't going to say anything." She said. And the four went back to watching the movie.

* * *

Eventually, they saw that not everything was perfect for the Grogans. As Jenny suffered a miscarriage, they saw how the family had all been affected. Even the usually energetic Marley, just quietly resting his head on her lap while John hugged her. Team RWBY watched the scene in complete silence, struck by the change of mood in the movie. Ruby leaned towards Yang and rested her head on her shoulder. The blonde wrapped her arm around her sister in a comforting manner

The movie went on. After suffering this, the couple decided to leave for a few days, leaving another woman in charge of Marley. Things went as well as you would expect.

Ruby watched in amusement the dog's antics and laughed a bit. The others did the same, even Blake, who had been pretty indifferent until now. The mood felt brighter now.

"Hey, did we ever tell you we have a dog?" Ruby asked, looking up at Weiss and Blake.

"Really?" Weiss asked, curious.

"Yep!" Ruby said back, cheerfully. "His name is Zwei. He is, like, the cutest thing ever! I should present him to you one day."

Weiss smiled a little more. "Well, if he is half as troublesome as this Marley is, I may want to know him." She joked.

"Deal!" Ruby exclaimed. "When we get back home, I'll ask Dad to bring him over."

Yang and Blake exchanged a sad look. They both knew was the other was thinking. [I]If[/I] they ever got back home, they weren't sure if there was a way back to Remnant.

But better not worry about that for now. Better enjoy the film, as it was quite effective at making them think about nice things.

* * *

Why.

Why had they decided to watch this?

Seriously, who could be so cruel to make this?

The rest of the movie went on about the family's life. They had children, they were happy, and even if he was a bit old that didn't change him at all.

And everything went downhill from there.

Marley eventually had health problems. He was taken to the vet, but there was little they could do about his condition. Despite this, he still went on his usual life as if nothing had happened. But it was more and more difficult for him.

And eventually the time came. He just couldn't live like this anymore. So his owner decided to spare him his suffering and took Marley to the vet to be put down.

"Why he had to suffer this?" Ruby mutterd shakily. "He was a good dog, he didn't deserve it."

"I know, Ruby. I know." Yang hugged her tightly. The blonde was also trying to hold back tears. In fact, Weiss and even Blake were teary eyed, clearly affected too.

"Poor Marley." Weiss muttered sadly.

"At least he is not going to suffer anymore." Blake said, trying to find a brighter side.

And the moment came. John's final words to Marley. Ruby couldn't agree more. "He was a good dog. A great dog."

And a final shot of the dog's face as his eyes closed and he passed away.

Ruby buried her face on Yang's shoulder, sobbing loudly. Yang just embraced her and calmed her as best as she could, while starting to cry herself. Weiss looked away, and Blake put a hand on her mouth, both crying too.

The final minutes of the movie was the Grogans burying Marley and paying their final respects to the dog. It was nice to see that they cared for him so much.

As John walked away the last, the narrator started speaking again.

_'A dog has no use for fancy cars, big homes, or designer clothes. A waterlogged stick will do just fine. A dog doesn't care if you're rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give him your heart and he'll give you his. How many people can you say that about? How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary?'_

The four girls silently agreed on what he had said. As the credits rolled, Blake was surprisingly the first to break the silence.

"You know," She said, as she wiped the tears off her eyes. "I liked it. Despite ending like this, well, I think it's part of owning a pet. It will hurt when it dies, but you will remember all the fun you had together and that's what you are going to remember and treasure the most. Am I right?" Yang, Weiis and Ruby nodded in silence. They couldn't have said it better.

A moment passed and Ruby spoke weakly. She still rested her head on Yang's shoulder. "Yang?"

"Yes, Ruby?" Her sister aked gently.

"I..." She sniffed a little. "I miss Zwei."

"Me too, Ruby. Me too." Yang hugged her sister tightly, and Weiss and Blake joined in too. A minute later Yang pulled Ruby back and looked at her in the eyes. "we'll see him again. We'll see everyone again. I promise."

They hugged again. When Jen came back half an hour later, she found the girls laughing and talking happily. Even if it looked like they had been crying a little, Ruby assured her that everything was fine. They had watched a movie that helped them lift their spirits.

* * *

Eh, not my best work, but I hope you like it. Next idea, a sort of sequel to XCVG's Aside story "The Night that Never Happened".


	25. The Morning After

Another fan contribution. Enjoy!

Author: Escudo  
Canon: Undefined  
Context: Post-Stolen Flame, set the morning after "The Night That Never Happened"  
Perspective: Ruby Rose

* * *

**Emergence: Aside****  
The Morning After**

The first thing I felt when I came back to the land of consiousness, was the feeling of dozens of nails being driven straight into my brain. I couldn't remember anything from last night, just taking maybe a little too much, especially since it had been my first time. After this it would probably be my only time too.

I vowed at that moment that I would never drink alcohol again. Well, maybe a sip of champagne on parties.

Back to the situation at hand, I tried to assess the situation I was in as best as I could, right now my mind was sluggish, and I couldn't think very well. I probably was on the floor, as my extended hands confirmed, probably on the living room, where all had been gathered before. At least someone had been kind enough to lend me a large pillow to sleep on, so I wasn't very uncomfortable. Well, as much as I could be in my current state. My body felt like it was made of lead, every movement was slow and felt extremely taxing. My mouth felt as if a scorpion had made its nest in it, dry and stingy. I tried to open my eyes a bit, my first sight being the window, the curtains were drawn but not completely. The small amount of light that passed through it drilled inside my eyes and straight into my head, intensifying my headache. I closed my eyes as fast as I could, at the same time let out a small groan of pain. It must be morning already.

So basically, being unable to move normally, extremely sensitive to light, and having the mother of all migraines, my current state could be summarised as 'miserable'.

My only consolation was that the pillow I was sleeping on was one of the most comfy things I have ever slept on. It felt warm, and its soft moves, almost as if it was breathing softly, were relaxing and lulled me back into sleep. I hugged the pillow and felt it embrace me in return, and I just could listen to the heartbeat. I was giving in, just a few more hours of sleep and I would feel better...

Wait a minute.

Pillows don't give off warm (most of them).

Pillows don't move like they breathed.

Pillows don't have a heartbeat that could calm even the most loud of babies.

And pillows definitely _don't hug you back._

So...

What am I sleeping on?

I slowly opened my eyes, careful not to look at the burning light from the window, and instead looked down. The first thing I saw was a chest, a human female chest. I felt my cheeks get a Little red at the implications, and continued looking up. I saw next a slender neck, and then the face. A round face with soft factions, that bore an expression of complete calmness, its owner still asleep. Sprayed on the ground was the magnificient hair, white as snow, and the beautiful blue eyes now slowly opening.

Oh Heavens above and all the gods that rule this world.

I've been sleeping on top of Weiss.

To make things worse, she was now waking up. Her eyes slowly opened up and looked at me, unfocused. "Ruby?" She managed to say as she blinked a few times, each time a little more consious of her surroundings.

"Uhh..." I croaked as I rose up a little. Just then Weiss finally became aware of our situation, and her eyes widened.

"Ruby!" She nearly screeched. Please, turn down the volume next time. "Get off me!" She pushed me aside and I landed on the floor.

Bad move. I rolled and ended belly up, staring at the ceiling. I felt my head roll ten times faster and not stopping. And my stomach joined in the fun. I did my best to keep its contents inside of it until both calmed down. "Not so loud." I muttered.

"What were you doing, you idiot!" She said very angry, though not as loud as before. She was probably feeling as bad as me right now. Also, she was blushing heavily.

A groan came from our side. Weiss and I looked around until we noticed Isaac on the couch, an arm drapped over his eyes to shield himself from the offending light. I know your pain, brother.

"Looks like you woke up." We heard another voice, and we saw Ben coming from the kitchen carrying a battle of water in each hand. He offered them to us. "Here."

Weiss took one and took a large chug of water. "It will do good against the hangover." Ben explained as I took the other bottle. "You must be feeling thirsty right now."

Well, yes, now that I thought about it, I was feeling very thirsty. I brought the bottle to my mouth and chugged down the water as fast as I could.

Ben cringed at this. "Careful, Ruby. You shouldn't drink that much at once, and you haven't eaten yet."

I came up with that conclusion too late. As I stopped drinking to take breath, I felt my stomach churning under the excess of water it had received. I knew this time there was no appeasing the beast. Everything was coming out, wether I want it or not.

Dropping my nearly empty bottle, I rushed to the bathroom. I saw Yang passed out on the bathroom floor, covering her head with the bathroom mat. I kneeled next to the toilet, and threw up what little there was in my stomach. And quite loudly, I was left panting hard and without energy, having to hold on the toilet to stay upright. My body shivered and nearly collapsed. Yang pulled the bathroom mat over her head harder, and let out a sound between a groan and a whimper. I think she was the one that drank the most, so she was probably feeling worse than me.

The Rose Sisters, two of the best fighters to ever attend Beacon Academy, reduced to shivering wrecks, trying to ward off any harmful light with a bathroom mat, and holding onto a toilet as if their lives depended on it.

Booze.

Never. Again.


	26. Mistletoe Shenanigans

_Note: Author's notes are of the author writing the Aside, not me. Asides are open to contribution- check out the Spacebattles thread for details._

* * *

Because I thought this was too much of an oportunity to let it pass. More shiptease, people! Not that long, though, and I'm not sure if it is accurate, so I apologize in advance if it is not.

Author: Escudo  
Canon: Undefined  
Context: During A Christmas Emerging  
Perspective: Third Person

* * *

**Emergence: Aside  
Mistletoe shenanigans  
**  
After a day of shopping, and having bought all what they needed, the four girls were ready to start decorating their home once they were back.

"Huh, it looks like it's going to rain." Weiss commented, looking up in the sky. The clouds were dark and quite thick. "We better hurry."

And as she had said, not soon after, it started to rain, first a few droplets only, and a moment later water fell as if the sky was a shower.

"What? Oh nonononono!" Ruby cursed under her breath, and broke into a faster pace, the others quickly following her. Luckily, there was a store nearby where they could take shelter, so they didn't get very wet.

"Great, what we needed." Yang said sarcatically, holding her bags in one hand and passing the other through her now wet hair. Both Ruby and Weiss rested against the wall.

"You think we can wait here until it stops?" Blake asked in loud voice while looking around. They were next to the side door of the store, and there was no one else around, probably busy inside with all the customers they would have at this time of the year.

"I think we should, unless you have an umbrella." Yang answered, shaking her head to try and dry off her hair as best as she could, sending drops of water in every direction and making the others cover their faces. When she stopped, her eyes fixated in something she hadn't seen before. "Hey, what's that?"

Ruby, Weiss, and Blake looked up where Yang was looking. Hanging from one of the beams, was a small string that ended in a small twig with several leaves and berries growing from it.

Blake's brow furrowed a little. "Isn't that mistletoe? I think people on Earth hanged it up in their homes for a reason."

Prior to going to the mall, Blake and Yang had done some research on the Internet about common traditions and customs in Christmas. She had forgotten about it, but it came back to her head in a second. "Oh, I remember that," The blonde added. "I think it was that two people under it would have to..."

Yang blinked as realisation hit, and she couldn't help but try not to laugh. Blake looked at her partner, and a moment of understanding later, the faunus also smirked in amusement. They both looked at Ruby and Weiss, who had been under the little plant all this time.

"What? What is it?" Weiss asked, both in annoyance and concern. What was so important about this plant?

"I think..." Ruby spoke up shyly, suddenly very interested in watching the ground. Her cheeks were turning red, why the embarrassment. "If two people were under it, I think they had to... kiss."

"..." Weiss blinked, needing a moment to process the information. "WHAT!?" She finally exclaimed. "Are you crazy!?"

"Hey! I don't make the rules here." Yang merely shrugged. "It's not my fault you walked under it without thinking."

"Oh, hell, no!" Weiss said angrily, not caring if she swore a little. "I don't care about traditions, okay? There is no way in this world or another that you're going to make me- RUBY WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" She nearly screeched as she felt her partner's lips on her cheek. She white-haired girl jumped back in shock, red as a tomato.

Yang had to cover her mouth to stifle her laugh, while Blake smiled and shook her head in amusement.

"Come on Weiss! It's tradition!" Ruby pleaded, using her 'puppy eye' stare. Incredibly, Weiss managed to resist it.

"It's okay. No one is seeing." Blake added.

"Yeah! Come on, don't be like that. It's Christmas." Yang said cheerily.

Weiss looked at her team again, and shrugged. "Oh, what the heck. It's Christmas anyway." She said while walking up to Ruby and kissing her in the cheek. Ruby gasped in surprise, turning as red as her cape.

"Hey, hey. Wait till we get home." Yang joked, making the girls' faces to get redder.

Weiss looked back at her blonde teammate, glaring as best as she could with the blush on her face. Suddenly, she broke into a smirk. "Well, since you are so eager to see a kiss, why don't _you_ come here?" The heiress was feeling rather daring right now.

Yang chuckled as she walke up to Weiss. "Why, you also want a taste of me-eeeeeeeeep!"

Swiftly, Weiss had jumped at Yang, wrapping her arms around her shoulders, and only stopping when their lips were only inches away, the heiress' eyes half lidded looking right at Yang's. Neither Ruby nor Blake said anything, both taken by surprise by Weiss' actions and attitude. Yang's eyes were wide as plates, her teasing expression being replaced with one of surprise and nervousness.

"Don't be like that. It's Christmas." Weiss repeated Yang's words, with a teasing tone. Yang could only stutter a response. She hadn't expected Weiss to do this.

Weiss smirked. "I win." She finally said, kissing the blonde in the cheek and letting her go. Yang blinked, trying to recover from the experience, and felt heat coming to her face.

"H-Hey." Blake interrupted. "The sun is coming out." Sure enough, it had stopped raining. The girls grabbed her bags and quickly set off.

They didn't walk for too long when Weiss broke the awkward silence.

"Let's not speak of this to anyone. Never. Okay?"

Ruby, Blake, and Yang all nodded rather quickly.


	27. Through The Looking Glass, Part Two

Probably the longest Aside ever. Possibly the longest chapter of Emergence so far. Writing quality's not the best, I know. Long, unpolished, packing too much into one chapter- no, I'm not talking about SGD.

I thought about splitting it up, but ultimately decided to keep it together. Part Three, as you may have guessed, will cover almost all of Volume 2. It might be even more cursory than this one, considering the length of Volume 2 and how long this chapter ended up being.

What do you think of the characterization in Emergence? I realize after watching the episodes again that the RWBY I wrote feels different than the proper RWBY. Some of that can be explained from the shock of displacement, but I wonder if I'm doing a good job or not.

Aliens Among Us is still on track for a New Years' release.

* * *

Canon: Full.  
Context: Post-Stolen Flame  
Perspective: Third-person

**Emergence: Aside  
Through The Looking Glass, Part Two**

"So... are we ready?" Ruby asked, finger hovering over the play button.

"Just get it over with," Weiss snapped.

"I suppose," Blake allowed.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Yang told her. "Which is not very, but just start it."

"Okay, three... two... one..." Ruby hit the play button, and the show started. It began with an opening narration and slideshow.

"Well this is a cop-out,"

_Legends. Stories scattered through time. Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, byproducts, of a forgotten past._

_Man, born from dust, was strong, wise, and resourceful, but he was born into an unforgiving world. An inevitable darkness — creatures of destruction — the creatures of Grimm - set their sights on man and all of his creations. These forces clashed, and it seemed the darkness was intent on returning man's brief existence to the void._

_However, even the smallest spark of hope is enough to ignite change, and in time, man's passion, resourcefulness, and ingenuity led them to the tools that would help even the odds. This power was appropriately named "Dust." Nature's wrath in hand, man lit their way through the darkness, and in the shadow's absence came strength, civilization, and most importantly, life._

_But even the most brilliant lights eventually flicker and die. And when they are gone... darkness will return. So you may prepare your guardians, build your monuments to a so-called "free world," but take heed... there will be no victory in strength._

"Well that was grimdark," Yang commented.

"Did you just make a pun?" Ruby asked, actually happy about the occurence for once.

Yang smiled thinly. "I... I think I did."

_But perhaps victory is in the simpler things that you've long forgotten. Things that require a smaller, more honest soul. _

"Was that Professor Ozpin?" Weiss asked.

"It could just sound like him," Ruby suggested to her partner.

Blake shook her head. "I think it's supposed to be Ozpin."

"And there's Torchwick," Yang said, pointing out the criminal entering the store. She watched as the camera panned to Ruby, totally oblivious, reading a magazine near the back of the store. "Wait, why are you just zoned out there?"

"It's a quiet store!" Ruby protested. "Nothing ever happens there, or, well, until this."

"Is that This Will Be The Day?" Weiss asked. "It is. Huh, that's the show's title theme here, right?"

"Yep!" Ruby replied. On screen, the robber began to point his gun at her. "I love this part!"

"Wow, Junior's henchmen really do suck," Yang commented dryly as her on-screen sister more or less wiped the floor with them. Meanwhile, Torchwick was escaping to a roof.

"And this is where I went and got him," Ruby pointed out as the fight against Torchwick began. Then the Bullhead showed up and Ruby was almost hit with an exploding Dust crystal.

"And got rescued by Professor Goodwitch," Yang finished. She sighed. "Ruby, you can't just go charging into things like that. Something bad's going to happen."

"I know," Ruby admitted quietly.

"Did you actually ask for her autograph?" Yang asked on a lighter note.

"Uh..."

The scene shifted to what looked like an interrogation room, with Professor Goodwitch lecturing Ruby. Weiss winced. "That doesn't look fun."

"It wasn't, it really wasn't," Ruby muttered.

Then Headmaster Ozpin showed up and after a snippet of conversation, invited Ruby to Beacon. Weiss commented, "So that's how that happened."

Ruby looked up from her bowl of popcorn. "Huh?"

"I just imagined it being more dramatic, and I imagined you trying to push your way in," Weiss admitted. "I guess that's my fault for jumping to conclusions."

The scene shifted again, a dramatic cut to Yang glomping Ruby. Blake looked at her partner. "Were you really this-"

"Yeah," Yang admitted. The camera shifted, then cut to a news report.

"So, Torchwick, the Faunus- I guess this is the first time they're mentioned in the series- and oh, that's Professor Goodwitch again," Weiss narrated unnecessarily.

"That was a pretty good speech," Yang admitted.

Blake shook her head, then her eyes widened. "Did he really throw up on-"

Yang cut her off, voice colder than it should have been. "Unfortunately."

The scene faded out on that slightly sickening note, replaced with the show's opening sequence and music.

"I don't get it," Weiss complained as Ruby began queueing up the next episode. "Who was that lady? What was Torchwick after? Why are we even watching this?"

"We're going to find out... I hope," Blake replied. "Ruby, how accurate would you say what we've seen so far is?"

"Really really accurate," she replied. "Like maybe not one hundred percent but probably ninety percent or maybe a bit more-"

"We get it," Weiss snapped. Her voice softened. "Let's just keep going."

The next episode began with the titles, which Ruby skipped, to the unspoken annoyance of her teammates. The first scene showed the airships arriving and people begin to disembark.

"Funny, I don't remember everyone else being a black silhouette," Weiss remarked cynically.

"They had a limited budget; they did it to save money," Blake explained.

"I remember this," Yang remarked. "Beacon was amazing the first time we saw it."

"Hmph," Weiss muttered.

"Not everyone comes from a land of castles and mansions," Blake reminded the heiress.

"Did you really run off with your old friends?" Ruby interrogated as her sister on-screen did exactly that. "Because I've never seen those people before or since."

"Uh, I sort of knew them," Yang admitted. "Honestly, I really just wanted you to go meet new people."

"And she did," Weiss finished, embarassed by the scene unfolding before her. "I know, I know, I was careless with the Dust. Don't remind me."

"Wow, Weiss, I knew you were a-"

"Yang Xiao Long, if you finish that sentence-"

Ruby interposed herself between them. "Guys, we promised we wouldn't do this!"

"Yeah, I know... sorry," Yang apologized. "But you weren't exactly the nicest person around."

"I know," Weiss admitted. "It's... it's hard not to be."

While they were talking, the scene finished up, and Ruby collapsed to the ground before Jaune appeared, extending his hand toward her.

"I still think he's an idiot and doesn't belong in Beacon," Weiss said, motioning to the dorky blonde on the screen.

"I'm sure they'll explain it later," Ruby told her as her screen self conversed with the animated Jaune.

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Did you really get lost?"

"Maybe?" Ruby replied hesitantly, fumbling with the keyboard. "Uh... next episode!"

The next episode began with Jaune and Ruby walking into the main hall, with Ruby quickly ditching Jaune to meet up with her sister.

"You didn't really explode a hole in front of the school," Weiss reminded her. "It wasn't that bad."

Ruby replied, "I know, but I was like really embarrassed at the time."

"Wow, you were really oblivious," Weiss commented, cringing at the memory of sarcastically berating Ruby. "And so is Jaune, apparently."

"That speech was even more lame than I remember," Ruby added.

Blake disagreed. "It was a good speech, just... very blunt, and very basic."

"I didn't realize you wrote a diary back then," Weiss remarked to her partner. The scene was now a closeup of Ruby and Yang.

"But you said you were writing to your friends!" Yang protested.

"I was doing both?" Ruby replied, unsure.

"Where did Jaune get that thing, anyway?" Blake commented, pointing to Jaune's blue onesie.

Weiss held back a smile as Ruby and Blake met for the second time. "You were so awkward back then."

"I'm still awkward," Ruby admitted.

"Are you still that cynical, Blake?" Yang asked as the cat faunus shot down Ruby's fairy-tale delusions on screen.

"In a way, not as much, in a way, more so," she replied thoughtfully. "I know firsthand that good and evil aren't easily defined, and if anything being here has only reinforced that."

"We can still make it better, right? Right." Ruby said hopefully.

"I never said we couldn't. But it's a balancing act, and it's a lot harder and a lot messier than-"

Weiss interrupted, "As much as I'm enjoying this discussion on morality, we need to focus on these episodes."

She sighed. "And now the episode's over. Just go on to the next one."

"Hey, it's Nora and Ren," Yang remarked, pointing to the duo on the screen. "Wow, she never stops being hyper, does she? I wonder if there's more to it."

"More to it?" Ruby asked, confused.

Blake explained, "Perhaps there's a deep personal reason for her demeanour."

"Uh..."

"Maybe she just acts that way because of something that happened," Weiss explained as simply as possible.

"Oh." Ruby finally more or less understood. "Still, I don't know if we should be guessing about these things."

They turned their attention back to the screen, where Yang was lecturing her sister on coming out of her shell and meeting new people.

"I'm, uh, I'm working on it," Ruby told her sister in real life. "It's hard when you're on another planet and you're supposed to keep it a big secret."

"I know, sis," Yang said gently. "I think we've all retreated a little."

Her voice brightened. "But hey, you're doing fine with Sam and Cliff and Ben and those guys, and you did fine with Joe, and Nigel, back in..."

She clung to the nearest person, who was Blake. "It's okay, Yang. It's over."

"Ugh, I remember this," Weiss commented when the Jaune on screen hit on her and Pyrrha. "That dunce is insufferable."

"Oh, come on, he's not that bad," Ruby told her. "Just trying too hard."

"It's even worse because Jaune did end up as a leader, and the last I heard he wasn't even that bad."

"Isn't that a good thing, Weiss?" Ruby asked.

The heiress sighed. "I guess, but, ugh, I just don't like him, okay?"

"Okay." The next scene was the beginning of the initiation, where Professor Ozpin explained how the partners would work and what they would have to do.

"Wow," Weiss commented as Jaune started asking questions about landing. "Maybe that idiot really did forge his transcripts."

"Next episode!" Ruby said excitedly, starting to get a better grasp of the interface and bringing it up in seconds.

"Jaune really is a- how do they say it on Earth- fuckup." Weiss commented coldly, watching everyone use their landing strategies, except for Jaune. "Wait, why would Pyrrha do that?"

"Maybe she likes him," Blake suggested.

Weiss shook her head. "I don't understand what she could possibly see in him."

"Aw, come on, Weiss, he's not that bad," Ruby protested. "Think of the Jaune Arc we know, not the Jaune Arc embarrassing himself on screen."

"But they're one and the same, Ruby," Weiss told her. She didn't have an answer for that.

The scene changed to Ruby running through the forest, her thought process about potential partners appearing animated above her head. Yang asked, "Does your thinking really look like that?"

"Well it's not animated but I was thinking that," Ruby admitted sheepishly.

"Did you actually come back only because Jaune was worse?" Yang asked, angry at Weiss' rejection of her sister.

Weiss sighed. "Yes and no. I realized when I saw Jaune that it could be worse, and that I didn't really have a choice."

"That's only slightly better," Ruby pouted.

"I'm not good with first impressions," Weiss tried to excuse. "And it worked out, didn't it?"

"I guess."

While they had been arguing, the episode finished. "Next one," Blake commented idly, stealing the keyboard away from Ruby.

The next episode began with Blake partnering up with Yang, together killing two Ursa.

"Well, that was a lot less interesting than I thought it would be," Weiss commented.

Blake told her. "It's not meant to be dramatic."

Meanwhile- in sequence in the episode but they remembered it happening at the same time- Ruby and Weiss were surrounded by Ursa, and now bickering over working together.

"Is that actually how it happened?" Yang asked. "You were the one who set the forest on... fire?"

"I'm going to refrain from commenting," Weiss replied through clenched teeth.

"I guess it was my fault," Ruby admitted.

Weiss shook her head. "No. It was both of us. We needed to work together but you had too much to prove and I... I refused to accept you as my partner."

"But it all worked out!" Ruby assured her cheerfully once again.

"Yes. I suppose it did," the heiress admitted. She turned her attention to the screen. "Oh, it's Pyrrha and the idiot."

"Hey!" Ruby interrupted. "Jaune is a nice guy, he's just a bit of, well-"

"An idiot," Yang finished for her sister. On screen, Jaune was standing up again after getting knocked down by a branch.

"I was going to say goofball," Ruby protested weakly. "But I knew what Aura was since I was, like, five. So maybe you're right."

Blake cringed slightly as Pyrrha recited the explanation of Aura, a fairly poetic version of what was normally taught. "I guess someone's going to have to rewrite that theory."

Ruby wolfed down another handful of popcorn. "Huh?"

"On Remnant, we understand Aura to be a manifestation of our souls, something everyone has," Yang explained. "But here, nobody has Aura, and unless everyone's a soulless monster..."

"It doesn't feel that way," Ruby added. "You know how you can kind of feel that bad feeling around Grimm because they don't have souls? It doesn't feel like that here."

"We're not scientists or philosophers," Blake reminded them, shaking her head. "It is a disturbing question, but not really one we can answer."

"Wow, Ren is really awesome," Ruby commented, already distracted by the fight scene between Lie Ren and the King Taijitu. "I mean, I knew that already, but- Wow, Jaune really does have a lot of Aura!"

"Maybe it's just a special effect," Weiss argued.

Yang shook her head. "No, I think Pyrrha mentioned it a couple times."

"Is that actually what a sloth sounds like?" Ruby asked as Ren and Nora met up just before the episode finished.

Blake started the next episode.

"How _do_ those two get along?" Ruby asked.

"Opposites attract, sort of a yin and yang thing." After realizing what she had said, she quickly added. "Pun not intended. Really."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Sure. And now- can we skip this part?"

"Why?" Blake asked. On screen, Weiss and Ruby were shredding each other with verbal insults. "Oh."

"I would really prefer to pretend this never happened," Weiss said quietly.

"Weiss, you were really mean back then, but it's important to realize that you aren't anymore," Ruby told her partner... again. "Like how I used to be really bad with people but I'm still kind of bad with people but I'm working on it. And I'm a better leader now!"

On screen, Weiss huffed and stalked away from her partner, and it cut to Blake and Yang approaching the ruins with the chess pieces.

"Are there more pieces than we actually needed?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, I wondered about that at the time, too," Yang replied. "Maybe they launched more people after us. I mean, there were only a dozen or so of us at initiation, but there are more first-years than that."

"That makes sense," the heiress concurred.

"That's not the relic!" Ruby shouted as the on-screen Jaune and Pyrrha approached the tail stinger of a Death Stalker.

"Wait, was that Pyrrha or was it actually Jaune screaming?" Yang asked.

"I think it was Jaune," Ruby said, laughing. Beside her, Weiss shook her head, muttering insults. Ruby continued, "Oh, and that's me!"

"I remember that!" Weiss snapped at her as Blake started the next episode.

"How did you get on that Nevermore, anyway?" Yang asked nervously. "You never did give me an answer."

"Well, I, uh-" Ruby began.

Weiss cut her off. "Ruby thought we could get a better view, and before I could stop her she was already charging forward and jumping onto the Nevermore instead of just sneaking away like a sane person."

"You did follow me, though."

"I wasn't going to let my partner die," Weiss snapped back. "I wasn't that heartless, even back then."

"Aw, you really do care."

"And there's Nora!" Ruby shouted as the energetic girl made her entrance on an Ursa.

Yang commented. "Well, they did a good job of getting her general insanity across."

"And there's Pyrrha," Blake echoed. "And there's angry Yang."

"Hey, I was getting frustrated!" the blonde protested. She added, "Although it really wasn't that crazy, not compared you, well, you know..."

"Did Jaune really do that?" Ruby commented when the blonde jumped out of the tree to catch Weiss, predictably ending with both of them falling to the ground.

"Unfortunately," Weiss snapped. "See? That fool doesn't even understand how gravity works."

"They didn't really hang there, though," Blake remarked. "It was more like an undignified plunge."

Yang winced at her earlier words about dying together. "That is not funny anymore."

"Can we skip the next scene?" Weiss requested. "We've established that this is what happens-"

"Aw, that's cute," Yang remarked. On screen, Weiss was having a heartfelt conversation with Ruby about working together.

"Whatever."

"Run and live," Yang echoed quietly.

Ruby grabbed the popcorn bowl as the fight scene began. Beside her, Yang remarked, "It was much more intense actually being there."

"You don't say," Weiss snapped.

"Not really a good thing, though."

"I wonder if this was supposed to happen," Yang mentioned quietly, watching the fight unfold on screen. "I mean, usually they clear the strongest Grimm out for initiation. It's supposed to be challenging, not lethal- well, not that lethal."

"It's probably just a coincidence," Weiss dismissed. "I know you're wondering if it was a special test, but I don't think it was planned."

"But we're already working as teams, even though it's supposed to be sort of random," Yang half-protested.

"Well, maybe the Headmaster really did plan it," Blake admitted.

"We'll just have to ask him when we get back," Ruby said, and the room turned awkwardly silent.

"Right, okay," Weiss half-replied.

"Hey, I know this song!" Ruby exclaimed. "It's Red Like Roses, Part 2!"

"I still don't know why it's called that," Weiss complained. "It doesn't exactly follow on from her previous single."

"And of course they skipped the part where we had to climb up the cliff," Yang complained. "That was not fun."

"That's probably why they skipped it," Weiss pointed out. "This is supposed to be entertainment."

"Hey, I remember this!" Ruby commented. "Wow, Jaune really looks shocked."

"I think we were all shocked," Weiss snapped. "What? He never should have been made leader!"

"You didn't think I should be leader at first, either," Ruby reminded her. "He seemed to do a pretty good job."

"That's different."

"No, not really," Blake pointed out.

"Weiss, just admit you're wrong!" Ruby whined.

"I guess... well, we'll see." Weiss sighed as the episode ended.

The next episode began with Team RWBY unpacking and decorating their new room. Ruby remarked, "I remember this, this was fun!"

"Wait, I thought they had limited resources?" Weiss pointed out. "Why would they waste two minutes on this?"

After seeing the bunk beds again, she added, "And I still think those are grossly unsafe... though more comfortable than the floor."

The next scene was literally Professor Port lecturing. Yang began to close her eyes. "Oh, god, I forgot how boring he could be."

"I wonder how much he was making up," Blake mentioned. "It seems outlandish, but it could have happened."

"We're living proof that outlandish can happen," Yang added.

"We're not ridiculous compared to what Professor Port said," Ruby argued.

Blake shook her head. "To us, yes, but to the people here... it's all a matter of perspective."

The episode ended with Weiss about to face a Boarbatusk at the Professor's urging. Weiss noted, "I actually really did want to kill something at that point."

Ruby put on the next episode, which continued off from the last, with Weiss facing off against the Boarbatusk. She whined, "Oh, this is going to get awkward."

"I was trying to concentrate, and you were distracting me," Weiss explained.

"You were allowing yourself to be distracted," Blake argued.

"Maybe," the heiress admitted.

"Wait, were you just jealous?" Blake asked when they got to the scene with Weiss berating Ruby outside the classroom.

"I felt... cheated. After all I had put in, after all I had gone through, like Ruby had just stolen my position out from under me." She admitted. "So yes, I suppose I was."

"Do you still feel cheated, Weiss?" Ruby asked quietly.

"I... maybe," the heiress replied, uncertain. "It's hard to let go. But I'm willing to let things be."

While the animated Weiss stormed off, the animated Ruby ran into Professor Ozpin. After watching the conversation asked, "Wait, he assured you that he hadn't made a mistake?"

"Does that make you feel better or worse?" the crimsonette asked. "It made me feel better."

Weiss gave a shaky non-answer. "I do respect his decisions... usually."

"Huh," Yang remarked as the on-screen Weiss conversed with Professor Port. "I guess there's more to him than we realized."

"I... I knew what he was saying. I understood what he was saying," Weiss admitted quietly. "I just didn't want to admit it was right."

The scene cut to Ruby attempting to study in bed.

"My legs are not that long!" Ruby interrupted. "Oh, I remember this, sort of."

"Sort of?" Weiss snapped. "I thought this was a significant moment."

"Yeah but I was really tired and I remembered what happened but not exactly what happened-"

"Stop. Just... nevermind."

"Aww, this is when Weiss stops being a bitch," Yang remarked crudely.

"Yang," Weiss growled dangerously. "I know what that word means."

"Next episode!" Ruby quickly interrupted.

"I forgot how bad Jaune was," Yang remarked dryly, watching him get battered by Cardin on screen.

"He got better, though," Ruby reminded.

"Somewhat," Weiss allowed.

"Oh, the Vytal Festival! We've already missed it, haven't we?" the crimsonette said sadly.

"Well, maybe we'll make it back in time for the next one," Weiss replied, knowing her words were hollow. _If we make it back._

"What took so long for Jaune to stand up to him, anyway?" Ruby asked angrily as the animated Jaune denied being bullied.

"I think that's what this episode, and maybe the next one, are about," Blake said. Her eyes narrowed in disgust as the focus shifted to CRDL bullying Velvet. "I can't believe he did that to her. It's not just mean, it's really painful."

The episode ended and Ruby, now with eleven episodes of practice, started the next one within seconds. After the opening credits, she whined, disappointed, "Another lecture."

"We may have already learned this, and it may be another boring lecture to us, but for most viewers, it's a glimpse into our world," Blake reminded her.

"That idiot is sleeping in class?" Weiss hissed.

"You were there, Weiss," Ruby reminded.

"I didn't know he had actually fallen asleep!"

After a few cuts and pans, Yang noticed something. "Wait, is the Professor in front of or behind Jaune?"

"He was behind him, between us and him," Weiss said. "But they only got it half right."

"They messed that up pretty bad," Ruby noted.

"I thought Jaune was making a stupid joke," Weiss added after Jaune gave "binoculars" as his answer. "But I guess he really didn't know."

"And Cardin is still a bigot," Blake commented dryly. "It's people like him that are the problem, here and on Remnant."

They watched as Jaune was assigned an additional essay along with Cardin, and then intercepted by Pyrrha outside of class.

Ruby laughed when they arrived on the roof and Jaune said that he wasn't that depressed, then realized, "That's not funny."

"No, not really," Blake added. "Not when it's someone you know."

"For a moment, though-"

"You forgot that it was Jaune," Blake finished. "It's easy to forget, to separate yourself, even if you know that what you're seeing is what happened."

"I never realized he was that, well, you know," Yang said quietly. "I mean, I knew he was stubborn, but I guess I thought he was just being a... big dumb oaf."

"He admitted it!" Weiss screeched when Jaune admitted to faking his way into Beacon. "Oh, if I-"

"Weiss," Ruby interrupted. "Jaune isn't a bad person. He wouldn't have done it without a good reason... I think."

"Bullshit!" Weiss snapped upon hearing his explanation.

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Bullshit?"

"It's Earthican for- you know what it means! Jaune never had good intentions, he just wanted to be the knight in shining armor!"

"If your father was, and his father, and his father, for generations, wouldn't you be?" Yang asked rhetorically.

"That doesn't give him the right to-"

Yang shook her head. "No, it doesn't, but I understand why he did it."

"And of course Cardin has to take advantage of the situation," Blake commented. "Next episode, please."

The episode opened with JNPR discussing Jaune's whereabouts in their room.

"If we're looking at them like this, does it count as spying?" Yang asked.

Ruby shook her head. "We are on an intelligence gathering mission!"

"That's the definition of spying, you dunce," Weiss snapped.

"Hey, I remember this," Ruby noted as her animated self met with Jaune outside his room to discuss leadership.

"That was... remarkably mature of you," Weiss commented after the scene. It vindicated her acceptance of Ruby somewhat. "And of course Jaune takes it the wrong way. And he's still going along with Cardin."

"We should have done something," Ruby said quietly.

"Hey, it's Forever Fall!" Yang said. "Uh-oh. I know how this ends."

"Jaune had to gather sap for Cardin and his team, okay, that's in here," Blake commented. After watching through that scene, she added, "Oh, so that's what he had planned."

"What did Pyrrha do to him?" Yang asked.

Blake shrugged. "Not much. He's a bully."

On screen, Jaune made his decision, tossing the sap at Cardin instead of Pyrrha.

"Yay Jaune! Finally!" Ruby cheered, not even waiting before playing the next episode.

"Well, at least he's standing up for himself," Weiss commented idly as Jaune earned a punch to the face for his efforts. "Even if he's failing at that, too."

"Weiss, this is when Jaune finally gained some confidence!" Ruby protested. "He's finally actually, you know, doing what he should be doing and stuff."

"Of course they left their leader to die," Blake muttered. "I knew they'd do it then, I knew they'd do it now."

"Someone had to get help," Ruby mentioned. "But they could have sent one of them, or made Jaune do it."

"If only we had something as simple as a two-way radio," Yang muttered.

"They were replaced by our Scrolls," Weiss reminded her. "Many years ago."

"Which do you no good without reception," Yang retorted. "Face it, Weiss, we live in a land of simple but effective now."

"But boring," Ruby whined. She turned her attention back to the screen. "I remember this. It was really really scary. I wanted to go in but Pyrrha thought Jaune needed to do it on his own."

"Well, he did it," Weiss admitted. "Almost. He was a lot less intolerable after this, at least."

The next scene was on the roof with Pyrrha again.

"He's admitting his faults," Blake commented. "That's good. You don't see that enough."

"What do you think now, Weiss?" Ruby asked as the credits rolled.

"Honestly? I still don't think he should have been at Beacon," Weiss said slowly. "But at least he's trying. And he's figured out what his problems are. And he does have a lot of potential."

"The Stray," Blake read, stealing the keyboard and scrolling to the next episode. "I think I know what this is about already."

The episode opened with an establishing shot of Vale before focusing in on the protagonists, who were strolling through Vale.

"I remember this," Ruby mentioned. "You really did make it sound boring."

"It's exciting in different ways for me," Weiss retorted.

There was a pause before Yang quietly asked, "It's already over, isn't it?"

"Well, the Vytal Festival is pretty long," Ruby told her. "It's been what, three months since we got here?"

"If time passes the same," Yang reminded her.

"You know, I didn't realize at the time how bad those cops were," Blake commented after their on-screen selves approached the police line. "Drawing a weapon, brandishing a weapon, and all but admitting to corruption."

She breathed. "And we thought that was normal."

Their previous conversation turned into Weiss and Blake arguing over the nature of the White Fang. They both cringed at the memory. "I know we had this conversation already, but..."

"Let's not have it again," Weiss replied icily.

They watched the introduction of Sun Wukong in silence, until Weiss ran into Penny. The real Weiss remarked rudely, "Oh, it's the weird girl."

"Gynoid," Blake corrected.

"What?" Ruby asked, confused.

"She's a synthetic," Blake answered.

"That's so cool!" Ruby shouted.

Yang asked, "How do you know that?"

Her partner shrugged. "I saw it on the wiki."

"So, not only did you make friends with a weird girl, you actually made friends with a machine," Weiss snapped. "Why am I not surprised that you would get along."

"Hey!"

"I'm joking," Weiss excused unconvincingly.

"Guys," Blake reminded them. "Tension."

"Why do you hate combat skirts, Blake?" Ruby asked. "You know it's not like a regular skirt, it's got a system of hoops and stick thingies to keep it in shape, and they're actually pretty usable."

Blake stammered her response. "I know, I just, uh, no, I'm pretty sure I was just trying to insult Weiss. I was still pretty angry at that point."

"Wow," Weiss muttered. "Now that I'm seeing this from the outside... I guess I was incredibly mean."

"I should apologize too, Weiss," Blake admitted. "I shouldn't have defended the White Fang like I did. Maybe we started off with the best of intentions, but by that point, they had become terrorists."

The argument continued after a fast cut to their room. They both remembered that in reality, there had been no fast cut- they had actually been arguing all day.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that," Blake quietly recited. "Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

"Who said that?" Weiss asked quietly.

"Martin Luther King," she replied. "It's easier to say than to do."

"This was not our finest moment," Yang remarked. "We know how it ends, let's just... go through it again."

"Get it over with," Weiss sighed.

The final episode of Volume 1 picked up right after the end of the last one, with Blake continuing her conversation with Sun.

"Did you know him from before or something?" Ruby asked.

"No, not really," Blake replied, shaking her head. "He was... there."

There was an awkward silence until Penny appeared on-screen and asked if they were looking for the "faunus girl". Ruby muttered, "We really should have figured this out earlier."

Blake shook her head. "The bow works amazingly well. I don't think anyone is expecting a faunus to cover their ears like that. Maybe people dismiss it as too obvious, too."

"Why did you leave me alone with Penny?" Ruby questioned. "You never really gave me a good reason."

"Uh..."

"Um..."

Ruby narrowed her silver eyes. "You don't have a good reason, do you?"

They quieted down, watching the next scene showing Blake discussing plans with Sun. Weiss commented, "Huh, I guess he's not as dumb as he looks."

Blake glared at her. "As he looked?"

"I didn't think he was dumb because he was a faunus," Weiss defended. "Well, not just because of that."

"Excuse me?"

"You know as well as I do that it's not just an opinion, it pervades your way of thinking-"

"Guys, stop fighting," Ruby whined.

They'd barely noticed the scene of Weiss and Yang asking around. The scene after that showed Penny awkwardly walking beside an exasperated Ruby trying to explain things to her.

"Wow, someone more naive than you," Weiss said to Ruby.

"I'm not naive, I'm idealismic! There's a difference!" Ruby protested.

"Idealistic."

"What?"

"You said _idealismic_. It's _idealistic_."

"Hey, it's the docks!" Ruby shouted, pointing at the screen.

"I wonder if they got it right?" Yang asked.

On-screen, Blake jumped down, sneaking behind Torchwick and putting her sword to his throat.

"Would you have done it?" Yang asked her partner quietly.

Blake hesitated. "I... don't know."

The animated Torchwick fired his cane, sending Blake flying. She dodged his blasts before attacking Torchwick again while Sun went after his henchmen before switching out with Blake against Torchwick.

"This is about right," the real Blake said.

"Clean and elegant," Yang muttered.

"Oh, this is where I show up!" Ruby shouted. Her on-screen self appeared before getting blasted back by Torchwick. "And this is where I fail."

"You didn't fail," Weiss reassured her. "Penny just went ahead before you could recover."

They watched as the combat-ready gynoid dominated her opponents, slicing them up and blowing a Bullhead apart with some sort of energy blast.

"It was even more impressive in real life," Ruby commented. "And if she's really a robot that does explain a lot."

With a smile on her face, Penny attached herself to one of the Bullheads and pulled it to the ground. Torchwick got aboard the last one and they took off into the night sky before anyone could do anything about it.

"Well, it's not quite as good as being there," Weiss commented neutrally. Her expression turned to annoyance when the next scene came up. "Do we have to do this again?"

"Ironic, isn't it?" Blake noted. "That conversation was all about forgetting our past, letting bygones be bygones... and now we're going through it all again."

"Wait, Professor Ozpin was watching the whole thing?" Yang asked when the scene zoomed out to show it on his scroll.

"Queen has pawns," Ruby echoed. "I wonder what that means?"

They watched through the credits in mostly stunned silence before Ruby blurted out, "Hey, isn't that Wings?"

"Yeah, it sounds like it," Yang agreed.

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Different singer, though."

The credits finished rolling with about 45 seconds of runtime left. The blonde noted, "Hey, there's something after the credits."

"Torchwick!" Ruby shouted excitedly. "Finally, we get to see, well, you know, something we haven't seen!"

"So that's who's behind it," Blake noted, pointing at Cinder Fall.

"I still have so many questions," Ruby told her team.

"We all do," Blake agreed.

"Well, that's what Volume 2 is for," Weiss reminded her.


	28. Back to Normal

This is an Aside that I've had planned for a while. It should maybe have been part of the epilogue for The New World, but I just haven't had the time to get to it. I'm not sure if I did a good job, but you can kind of see what I'm getting at here.

And I'll finish Through The Looking Glass eventually.

Canon: Full.  
Context: After The New World  
Perspective: Various

* * *

**Emergence: Aside  
Back to Normal**

_**Sam**_

Honestly, I didn't know what was bothering me.

I'd met important people before and sometimes talked to them. Mostly not really important people like the President- though I did watch one of the Prime Minister's speeches in person once- but some pretty awesome guys, mostly veterans but not all. I'd even shaken Chris Hadfield's hand when I was a kid.

Because they shouldn't exist? Maybe, but it didn't seem to bother Isaac or Cliff much, and I didn't even know about the show before I met Ruby.

Because I'd been the one helping them? Maybe. Taking an active role like that, risking my life and everything was new for me. And I honestly wasn't sure if I'd do it again or not.

Or maybe because I'd really got to know them, not just met them in passing. I'd spent months with Ruby, and even Yang had been around for weeks.

And then there was Syria. Kobane. I still had nightmares, still saw that place. The smell of death, the fear of being shot. Ruby saying she would protect me, Joe urging me forward. Gunfire and airstrikes. Is this what PTSD feels like? Or was this just a normal response?

Was I the insignificant one with the insignificant life now? It hadn't been a problem before- I'd known at some level I wasn't big and important, but everyone was significant in some way.

I opened another beer, the last one in the fridge. Whatever. I would just keep going like I always have.

_**Isaac**_

I guess this is what a self-insert character feels like after the ending. Having just had that really amazing incredibly awesome experience and now it's back to their old life. That old life that they probably escaped from. Except this is one of those really crappy self-inserts where the self-insert isn't awesome.

I know it was really dangerous and risky and stuff but the last few months were really cool. I've done stuff that I didn't know I could do. I've met RWBY for real. I even got to talk to the CIA and they weren't that bad. I know it was crazy and stupid but it was worth it. But now, after all that, normal real life just doesn't feel the same.

Maybe I could actually get my dream job now, with a direct line to Rooster Teeth and all. But I don't know if it's my dream job anymore. Because now I've actually met RWBY and animating, writing or whatever won't be the same as actually doing it, which they've done.

But hey, you never know what the future holds. Maybe something even more incredible would happen tomorrow.

_**Cliff**_

How do you go back to it?

I'd spent the better part of two months with Team RWBY as a significant part of my life. I'd flown halfway across the world to find a fictional character. I'd corresponded directly with Monty Oum and been debriefed by Jack Ryan. I'd broken laws- maybe not directly, but I was certainly an accessory- watched my friends go into warzones, taken so many risks and done so many insane things.

And now, as suddenly as my life had turned upside down, it was right side up again. No more RWBY- either one. No more intelligence agents. No more secret meetings and actions of dubious legality. I mean, I still got the occasional message, and I'm sure they're still watching me, but compared to what was happening before, it was like going back to normal.

Almost.

Practically speaking, this was much better. I had more free time, less stress, and I was much more in my comfort zone. I could actually work on my projects again, and I was actually doing better in school. I was even starting to get to know people at school, finally.

But it would never be quite the same. Who gives a shit about SQL when there's a whole world out there? Who cares about Java with real-life supers running around? It was a new perspective, and everything I was doing just seemed so damn insignificant.

I stared at the blank page in OpenOffice. Writing a novel about a group of fictional character who appeared in real life sounded like a good idea at the time, but how real do you make it?

_**Benjamin**_

It was a relief when they were gone.

They'd turned my apartment into a crowded mess. They'd dragged me halfway across the world. They'd given me a rude introduction to the NSA. They'd drained me of income and sleep. They'd turned my life into a mess and kicked it around a bunch.

I couldn't deny it, though. Even though it was stupid and crazy and annoying, it was something different and amazing. I enjoyed what I did, but now it seemed monotonous, mechanical, lacking direction.

I wasn't the most perceptive guy around and I knew it, but I knew I'd witnessed and been part of something as insane as it was incredible. Fictional characters didn't appear in the real world, and ordinary students didn't go halfway across the world to find them. Part of me still wondered if it was some kind of dream or delusion or joke.

I tried to push the thoughts out of my head, focusing on the netcode that wasn't going to write itself any time soon.

_**Jen**_

The apartment felt empty without them.

It had been the craziest time of my life. Even crazier than when Dad left, or when I barely graduated and moved out, or when Ben and I got together. I mean, RWBY in real life. Travelling to Ukraine, talking to the CIA, it was like something out of a bad novel.

But it was real, it had happened, and I constantly reminded myself about it.

I forgot how quiet the apartment was before. I went to work, went to school, and spent most of my time at home sleeping or eating. Ben went to work or worked on his own stuff. That was it.

No Ruby glomping Weiss and Weiss pretending to be mad about it. No terrible puns from Yang. No Blake acting like a cat, getting called on it, and getting angry about it. No more weird reactions to Earth culture. No more coming home to them glued to the TV, watching terrible movies that no Terran would be caught dead watching.

We'd had an adventure, and we knew it would end, but I guess I just didn't think about what would come after. Back to mundane, regular life, worrying about all the important little things that just didn't seem so important anymore.

I rearranged the plushies above the TV again. For most,, they were a nerdy decoration for fans of a show that only a few people watched. But for us, they were a reminder of what once was, what had happened.


	29. Masquerade

In which an unnamed side character reflects on the nature of the all-too-common masquerade, which was not written because I am procrastinating on promised chapters.

Warning: Viewpoint character is a Marine and talks like one.

Canon: Full.  
Context: Early Aliens Among Us  
Perspective: First-person

* * *

**Emergence: Aside  
Masquerade**

This is, to put it lightly, not what I signed up for.

I'm a Marine with a capital M. I signed up to defend my country from threats foreign and domestic- and maybe to slay dragons like in the stupid ad. Right now, I'm sitting beside a partially-retired Canadian Forces soldier and an RCMP officer in what may be the most fucked-up joint duty assignment in the history of the world.

My job is to watch the superpowered teenaged girls from another world, and keep them from getting into trouble, or God forbid causing trouble. I had two questions when I was recruited for the program: Does extraterrestrial count as foreign? and How the fuck do we intervene if they go berzerk?

The answer to the first question was "probably" and the answer to the second question is the Javelin launcher. There's also a Reaper drone somewhere, but that's directly under the control of the Gemstone office.

Whoever said war was long periods of utter boredom punctuated by stark terror was a wise man indeed. Iraq was like that. This is, on the other hand, not long periods of boredom punctuated by stark terror. This is long periods of boredom punctuated by slightly interesting events.

We have the house across the street, which was bought at the same time as the one the girls are living in. This place is meant to be lived in, sort of. There's always at least two people here. We've got enough weaponry to equip a small army and enough surveillance equipment to make the CIA jealous.

Okay, that's a gross exaggeration. But we've got quite a bit of ordnance at our disposal, including the aforementioned Javelin launcher, a bunch of AT4s, and a couple of heavy machine guns. Surprisingly, we have external cameras and audio, but no cameras inside the other house, so I guess spies aren't as creepy as I thought. We _can_ listen to their phone conversations and look at their Internet usage from here, but we don't usually do it because the Gemstone office is supposed to.

In other words, we're supposed to intervene only if something goes wrong. There's another team by the school, and some different teams that follow them when they go out.

One of the other guys wondered who was protecting who. I thought that was pretty fucking stupid. The briefing made it clear that even the youngest, cutest one could and would pulverize a pervert into a bloody smear.

Part of it was also animated and narrated by some weeaboo fag, so there's that.

Despite my reputation as a stupid jarhead, I actually spend a lot of time pondering, because let's face it, this is some weird shit that really make you question the meaning of life.

Or the meaning of fiction, at least.

I'd never even heard of RWBY before I volunteered (and I use that term loosely). I don't really watch anime, although maybe I should start, because it was actually better than I expected. Then again, it's _American_ anime, so of course it's better than the alleged real thing.

And now they were here. If they were here, if they were real, what if something worse was real? What if a Borg Cube entered orbit tomorrow? I'd actually pointed that out to Iverson, the spook in charge of this, and he told me that it was "impossible to account for the literally infinite possibilities." He did reassure me that they were working on plans for if more people or those fucking Grimm things came through.

Personally, I'd pay money to see one of those house-sized wooly mammoths get blown to pieces by a couple Deep Throats.

But I'm sitting here, staring kind of blankly at a CCTV monitor, wondering about some things.

Right now, this is super secret, and protecting that secret is top priority. They gave us a bunch of reasons for it. First, the girls don't want to be famous for some reason. Although with Yang's body and Weiss's voice, half of them could probably be famous anyway. Second, they didn't want to drive everyone off the wall with the implications. Kind of a "the world isn't ready to know" thing. Third, they don't want people finding out that there's actually an international task force for this.

I'll admit I laughed at them when they mentioned that was a reason. But the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. If they can't prove it, or if Team RWBY just decides to say fuckit and disappear, everyone's going to laugh at the various agencies and governments involved and call them fucking idiots for what they've done.

I think anyone with a brain can see the problem with this. All masquerades must come to an end. It may not be when the first person discovers their secret- I mean, who the fuck is going to believe them- but when enough people figure it out, the shit is going to hit the fan.

That was the single biggest fucking bullshit thing about Stargate, by the way, and the reason I stopped watching it. Well, that and the whole chair force circlejerk thing. There's like, two Marines on that show, and they retconned one to be Air Force.

So some day they're going to be thrust into the spotlight and there's not a single goddamn thing anybody can do about it. Of course, Gemstone's planning for that, too, but that's about all I know about it. Maybe it'll be like Ted, though, and they'll get their five minutes of fame before fading into the background.

Probably not, though, since they're basically superheroes. And they're probably going to be really fucking hot by that point, too. The blonde one, especially, and apparently literally too, because one of my fellow monitoring Marines made that remark and she fucking burned him.

I think the most convincing argument, though, is that the girls don't _want_ to be the centre of attention. Because in this world, I'd bet actual money that people are going to be more concerned about what skirt Weiss is wearing and less concerned that they're basically aliens. Some important people get embarassed, there's a huge hubbub, and then everyone goes back to their business.

If we're keeping the secret for the immediate future, where does that leave them? They graduate, but then what? If I was a badass monster hunter, I'd be pretty fucking unimpressed with our mundane Earthican career choices. Maybe the military would be a choice, or police, or something heroic if we let them. Still not flipping around on a fucking scythe cutting the heads off of soulless monsters, though.

But what the hell do I know? I'm just a dumbass Marine. My job is to watch the girls, not philosophize about their existence.


	30. Periphery

Kind of a follow-on to Back to Normal, but about the non-focus OCs. I know there are people who really liked some of the supporting cast, so they're back again, if only briefly.

Yes, I know there hasn't been an update on the main fic and I still haven't finished Through The Looking Glass. Even this has been a bit rushed.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: Full.  
Context: After The New World  
Perspective: First-person

* * *

**Emergence: Aside  
Periphery**

**Kyiv, Ukraine  
**_**Yekaterina Dmitrievna Andrusiv (Katya)**_

Half a year.

Half a year of tragedy, of excitement, of hardship, of insanity.

Kyiv was a city still healing from its wounds, but compared to Donetsk in the last weeks before I left, it was a peaceful utopia. I could see the damage from the fires, the barriers that were once around Maidan, the broken statue of Lenin. I could see the damage to Kyiv, even feel it, but the city was still alive.

I remember only the death in Donetsk. I remember watching Viktor bleed to death. Learning that Nika was dead. Learning that my brother was dead. Learning that my brother was dead. Learning my father was dead. The terror when the shells fell. The tension inside the makeshift shelters. The hunger and thirst when you could not get food that day. I remember watching Tatiyana and her family take their chances and leave, never seen again.

Yet it was a horror I had become numb to. I kept going, focused on survival. Focusing on finding food for today. Focusing on getting to the shelters when the bombs came down. Focusing on staying away from the fighting and the shooting. Focusing on not thinking about everything I had lost.

In a way, Weiss Schnee had been my saviour. I had not even considered trying to escape before that fateful day. I had not even considered doing anything but survival. I had even become used to the harsh reality, no longer aware of how wrong it was. And then I had to run and I had something of a life now.

I still message her occasionally, but she doesn't say much, and it is a surreal experience. Our lives are so different, yet now we have something in common. I understand that she doesn't want to talk, and in a way, neither do I. She told me that she has a life on Earth now with her friends, and I am happy for her, even though she doesn't say much about it.

I can scarcely believe what happened. Not the war; the war I had become numb to. It was Weiss Schnee, the girl from RWBY. I was sure she was real, but how? What did it mean? Did that mean everything from RWBY was real? What about other stories? Would they come to haunt us? Now with peace around me, I can think about it, ask those questions. Perhaps it is good. Something impossible and abstract to keep my mind off the cold hard reality. It was just so insane, all of it.

But when it first came, the war had shocked everyone, too.

I check my watch and realize I have to get moving. We have school in Kyiv, unlike Donetsk. Although they were still wary because of the recent violence, none of my classmates had witnessed true war firsthand.

It was so well that they didn't.

**Tokyo, Japan**  
_**Murata Yuko**_

I stared at the cat ears.

They once meant a wonderful fantasy, an escape into something else, even into another world. But after meeting a real cat girl, it just didn't have the same meaning anymore. I didn't think about the playful, happy cat doing cat things. Now I thought of the Faunus, being struck down and oppressed.

"I still enjoy dressing up as Blake," Akemi told me, motioning toward the ears.

"You're not dressed up today." She had the same ears, but not the rest of the outfit.

Akemi shrugged. "It's a lot of work to get it right every time. I only wear it when I want to show off."

I asked her the question that I'm sure was on her mind, too. "Doesn't it bother you that you've met the real Blake?"

She shook her head and grinned. "Nope! Maybe I shouldn't enjoy it, but I'm going to try as hard as I can to enjoy it. Blake is my hero, and I got to meet her."

"Akemi, she's not real. She can't be real. But she is." I realized how contradictory what I'd said sounded the moment I said it. "Doesn't _that_ bother you?"

"It's really weird, but it's like the story we've always dreamed of!" she said excitedly.

"Akemi, this is the real world. Weird things like characters popping into existence don't happen here." I'm sure that sounded contradictory too.

"But it did!" she said, grinning. "Come on, you need to take life less seriously. You've been all mopey and weird since Blake."

"Everything has changed," I reminded her. No, the school hadn't, the streets hadn't, nothing had literally changed, but it looked so different now. It was me who was different. I felt small and insignificant and a little sad that I couldn't be like Blake, but mostly I was confused. I tried to articulate it. "Doesn't it make you feel small?"

She shook her head. "Blake may be amazing, but I don't want her life. Everyone wants to be a hero, but I have what I want already. I enjoy _my_ life."

"Everything has changed," I repeated weakly.

"You're the only one who's changed," Akemi pointed out. She sighed. "I guess it's not a bad thing to think about all of it, but don't let it take over your life, stop you from doing what you want to do. Remember why we do this."

I picked up the cat ears and put them on. Maybe Akemi was right.

**Vancouver, Canada**  
_**Cpl. (Ret.) Joeseph Stevenson**_

War is a funny thing.

After I'd came home, the most important thing on my mind was where the fuck I was going to go after the Forces. Not about the guys I'd shot, the guys who'd died, the shithole I'd just left. It was over, it was behind me, it was done. No stress. No trauma.

Was I the same person? No. But I was focused on moving on.

After coming back from Syria, though, it's like someone flipped a switch and suddenly everything was different. Now I was thinking about the guys who'd died. Now I was thinking about the shithole I'd just left. It wasn't over. It wasn't done.

Is this what PTSD feels like?

It wasn't just the crazy shit that had gone down, either. I was thinking about the violence, the terror, the horror. I wasn't just thinking about the shithole I'd just left but the one before that too. Revisiting Afghanistan in the worst possible way. Like I'd been forced back to it in some way.

And then there was the whole elephant in the room. That the batshit crazy aliens guy might have been right.

"I'm cleared for Gemstone," she reminded me, the same way that she'd done in the past two weeks. But this time, she added, "I'm helping Yang, too."

On one hand, I did want to talk about it, figure out what the hell was bothering me now. I knew, logically that I should talk to the professional. On the other hand... no.

I stood up, the same way I'd done for the past two weeks.. "Not today."

**London, England**  
_**Malik ibn Khalid al-Rashid (Nigel)**_

"Good morning," the man greeted as soon as I entered the building. I quickly sized him up. He wasn't a field agent, that was for sure. I pegged him as probably an analyst or administrative type, fairly high up. I couldn't be sure, of course, but my guesses were generally pretty good. He smiled thinly. "I hope you had a pleasant flight."

"Yes, I did, thank you," I replied. It was a British Airways flight from Istanbul to Heathrow, and I was in business class. "Sure as hell beat the ride into Turkey."

He laughed. "I'm sure. I suppose you already know what this is about."

"I have a pretty good idea, yes," I replied. I was sure it was more about the short journey to and from Raqqa and less about the months I'd spent in Kobane.

I followed the man through the security checkpoint. They did a cursory check only, which meant that this guy had a lot of pull. We went up two flights of stairs to the second floor and into an enclosed office. It was fairly clean, with a computer and some paperwork on the desk.

"I suppose I should introduce myself," he said, extending his hand. "I'm Roger Morgan, senior analyst."

"Nigel," I told him after taking his hand, although I'm sure he already knew.

"Ah, that's right." He sounded educated and slightly highbrow, but not stuck-up. "You started using that name in the Paras, right?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "One of my mates came up with it. Unfortunately, he never came back from Baghdad."

"Sorry to hear that."

"It's fine," I told him, taking a deep breath. "You never really get over it, but you learn to live with it.

"Right, then." He handed me a form.

I took a brief look at it. Classified, do not disclose, et cetera. "I was there."

"It's mostly a formality," Morgan told me.

I scanned the sheet before signing it with the fancy gold pen. Handing it back, I asked casually, "What's Gemstone?"

"A multinational task force dedicated to preparing for and resolving... problems from the world of Remnant."

"Is that the planet they came from?" I was half-joking, realizing how ridiculous it would have sounded in any other context and also that he might tell me it was.

"Yes. There's more to the story, but we can go over that later."

I nodded. "You were the guys who made that phone call?"

Morgan shook his head. "Not exactly. It was our friends across the pond. The failure of their mission was one of the reasons this task force was formed."

He paused. "Now, tell me what happened in Syria, starting from the beginning."

"Well, it started out an ordinary day, when ordinary is the world blowing up around you..."


	31. Friction

A little idea that wormed its way into my brain last week. This is a non-canon omake; I'm not making this story a crossover. I might do a follow-on, though.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: No  
Context: After The New World  
Perspective: Third-person

**Emergence: Aside  
Friction**

The downside of compartmentalization, Secretary of Homeworld Security Samantha Carter reflected, was that when something did come up that several groups needed to know about, they didn't.

They'd heard from their usual intelligence sources that there might be some superhumans running around in Vancouver. Not hard evidence by any means, but in their business, shaky evidence means there's probably something more going on. It wasn't exactly a good thing, but it was something they knew how to deal with, or at least _thought_ they knew how to deal with.

Once they started digging, the facts started coming in. There were four of them, now in Vancouver. One had arrived in Donetsk, one had arrived in Raqqa, and one may or may not have arrived in Tokyo. Probably at least somewhat beyond baseline human, possibly with some strange abilities, definitely not from this world.

They managed to get pictures, and some of them were surprised when it turned out to be four teenaged girls. They appeared human, which wasn't much of a surprise since almost everyone in the galaxy was some variant of human. Colonel Mitchell had, of course, made some unprofessional comments, and Vala had yet again demonstrated her lack of knowledge of Earth, despite spending ten years on the planet.

It was Caldwell's base and Mitchell's mission, so all she did was sign off on it. All they had to do was discreetly meet with the girls and get them aboard the Odyssey to talk. The aliens walked home from school (how they got the house and went to school was something they wanted to find out) every day. It was a simple matter to intercept them.

Or, rather, it should have been. Colonel Mitchell and Daniel Jackson had enough time to realize that these aliens had their own protection before ending up in an alley with guns against their heads, forcibly disarmed. Vala tried to run and ended up slammed into a wall in a blur of rose petals. Teal'c managed to pull one of the armed men off his leader before losing a fight to the blonde girl.

Fortunately, it had bought them enough time to get free and call the Odyssey, and they beamed SG-1 onto the flight deck, the armed men into one cell and the aliens into the other. That worked for about a minute before one of the girls started punching dents into the trinium-reinforced cell door. They'd failed to calm things down before they found out the armed men were federal agents, they were _already taking care of the situation thank you very much_, and _we're on a spaceship_?

And that was how she ended up in the President's office with the National Security Advisor royally pissed at her and several very embarassed individuals a hundred miles above her.


	32. Powerless

Early on, I considered giving Earth and Remnant different laws of physics to explain the differences. Aura is a thing on Remnant but not on Earth, Dust works on Remnant but not on Earth. The immediate implication is that the girls would be rendered powerless on Earth. Of course, you could change it so that they still have some powers even on Earth, but then it's not strictly a different laws of physics explanation.

There is a story there, but like many ideas, it's not the one I want to tell. This is a set of (rather dark) what-ifs built around that idea. Yes, I know it's very much recycled; this is something I hacked together on the ferry. If someone were to make this into a full story, this would be a terrible way to start it.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: No  
Context: Distributed  
Perspective: First-person

* * *

**Emergence: Aside  
Powerless**

_**Ruby Rose**_

"Yang! Weiss! Blake!" I called, but nobody responded. I stood up, dusting off my combat skirt. The road was dirty, and smelled like something gross I couldn't identify. If they weren't around here, where were they?

I was on a road, with the city one way and fields the other way. And more fields around me. It's dark and it's hard to see, but I don't see them around. I'll never find them in the fields, not on my own. If only there was a way to contact them...

Of course, my scroll! I whip it out and open it, only to find out that it's totally dead and won't even turn on. "Gah..."

So much for that idea.

"Yang! Weiss! Blake! Where are you?" I yelled again, hopping off the road into the fields. I don't know how long I looked, but it felt like a long time. Finally, I realized it was pointless to shout and search in a field in the darkness. They weren't here, not close enough for me to find them anyway. I was sad as I retraced my steps and went back to the road.

One last try, at the top of my lungs. "Weiss! Yang! Blake! Anyone?"

"Hey, girl, shut the..." someone shouted from a car as it drove by, but I didn't hear the whole sentence.

I waved frantically at them, but they were already gone.

Maybe I could get a signal or find a phone in the city. And if Yang or Blake or Weiss woke up out here and didn't find me, where would they look? In the city, of course! So I started walking toward it, still keeping a look out for the rest of Team RWBY.

It was farther away than it looked, and I was getting tired I guess because of what happened. I tried to use my Semblance to speed up but it didn't work which was weird because it usually worked even if I was tired. I kept waving at the cars but nobody stopped and then after a while a police car came.

"Are you lost?" the officer asked as he got out of the car.

"Uh, yeah," I told him. I pointed to the city. "Is that Vale?"

He laughed. "No, it's Vancouver."

Huh? "Vancouver? I've never heard of that before."

He smiled gently. "What's your name?"

"I'm Ruby!" I replied enthusiastically.

"Right." I thought the policeman sighed. "Okay, Ruby, we're going to bring you back to the station, okay? Just to confirm a couple things."

"Okay," I replied, getting into the back of the car. Dad said not to get in the back of car with strangers but they were police and I was a huntress-in-training so it was okay.

"This is going to be a long day..." one of them muttered.

* * *

_**Weiss Schnee**_

Finally, Alexey sighed. "I do not know if you are not right in mind, if you are joke, or something else. In all, does not matter. I apologize for actions of men, and I apologize that I must do this. I cannot do anything for you. I feel bad about, but I must let you onto street, you fend for self, survive."

What? "Okay?"

Alexey extended his hand again. "Such is war. You head back to-"

He was cut off by an armed man bursting into the room, shouting something in their language. Alexey's face turned from neutral to worried to intense. He stood up and headed toward the door.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"Is attack. Supposed to be ceasefire, but some volunteer zealous and keep fight. Dmitri take you to shelter." He motioned toward the other man.

"Come. Quickly." Dmitri had his weapon out and he looked serious, but he moved like an amateur. Keeping one hand on Myrtenaster, I followed him through the hallway and out of the building.

I walked into a warzone. There was shouting all around, men- soldiers, I guess- running toward sandbags, walls, and bits of rubble. Staccato gunfire filled the air, though it sounded a little bit odd, not like any of the weapons I had used. I saw vehicles approaching, with men beside them shooting at us- well, the people I was with, anyway. There was a loud bang, and part of the building exploded outward. Someone had a _big_ gun.

We ran toward a stone wall. As soon as we were close, Dmitri grabbed me roughly and pulled me down, and started crawling along the stone wall. I'm not sure why- we would be much better off just getting off the battlefield as quickly as possible.

I had no idea who was fighting who. For all I knew, Dmitri could be one of the bad guys. They sounded like they were trying to do something good, but I knew all too well where that could lead. I couldn't get involved here. I couldn't fight on anyone's side. That was something Ruby and I could agree on.

Still, I drew Myrtenaster, gripping it properly with my left hand. Dmitri looked at me, confused. "Sword will do you-"

Suddenly, the wall beside us exploded, and the world went black.

* * *

_**Blake Belladonna**_

"I'm not acting!" I shouted angrily. "I'm Blake Belladonna! I'm a student at Beacon Academy. I was in Vale, and the next thing I knew I was here. Wherever this is!"

Maybe I was the one who was wrong. Maybe I wasn't really Blake. I reached up and felt my ears. They're real. I'm not a crazy human dressing up as a faunus. I am a faunus. I am Blake Belladonna. But Blake Belladonna doesn't exist. Blake Belladonna is a character, from a world very different than the one I'm in. Was I dreaming? No, this was real. It felt real. This is real.

I needed to escape. I needed to think. I needed to run.

I ran. The window was open, it was a short drop, I ran through it.

I never remembered the impact. The next thing I felt was pain. I knew without looking that both my legs were broken, and the rest of me didn't feel a lot better. I felt something wet under me. My own blood.

I've done that kind of drop a thousand times before, but it's like I didn't even have Aura. Which would make sense if I wasn't really Blake Belladonna and I'd never really done it before.

It was so stupid. Who am I?

"Blake!" I heard a voice shout as I blacked out.

* * *

_**Yang Xiao Long**_

I was on my knees in the middle of a desert, with no idea where this was or how I got here or why these jerks were doing this. Oh, and there was a masked psycho holding a knife against my throat. And another sick bastard filming the whole thing.

Would you believe me if I said I've been in worse situations before?

"You will read that," the masked man said to me, motioning to the camera with his knife. "You will read exactly what that says, you will not deviate, or I will cut your throat."

I didn't even look at the card under the camera. "Uh, no. I'm not going to read that."

He seemed surprised by my reluctance to read that insane "Are you stupid? You will read that or I will cut your throat!"

I was getting tired of this. "I don't know who you are, what you want, or what any of what I'm supposed to be reading means. Explain it to me, and maybe I'll think about it."

Deciding to play with him a bit, I winked and added flirtily, "I'm not as easy as you think."

He jerked the knife. I jumped up for the attack. I was too slow.

I felt a searing pain across my neck, followed by a soaking wetness. The world started going black and I knew I wouldn't be conscious much longer.

I felt a surge of anger, but nothing happened. This had never happened before.

What happened?


	33. Snowflowers

Definitely not a RWBY fanfic with the serial numbers filed off. Yang ships White Rose maybe? I blame Weiss Reacts.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: No  
Context: Aliens Among Us  
Perspective: In-universe document

* * *

**Emergence: Aside**

**Snowflowers**

Once upon a time, there was a white-haired princess named Elisabeth Snow how lived in a palace and the palace was called Lighthouse. Just outside her palace, which was floating, there's a girl with red hair named Crimson Flowers.

One day, they meet... Elizabeth fell out of her palace because she was too busy brushing her hair to nocie the floor collapsing. Why do those stupid half breed animals have to demantle the balcony she said as she fell.

Ruby nearby was trimming flowers get it because her name is flowers she also runs a flower shop and her resemblance is rows pedels. She's also totally awesome and has a sythe. But she tripped over her flower cart and started falling.

Beacon (the palace) was in the sky and the flower stand was also in the sky just outside because it's has a city outside.

oof Crmson said when she hit the princess when they were both flying because they was fall

And then Elizabeth shreked "GET OFF ME YOU WHORE"

"Hah you said shreked instead of shrieked... get shreked," Crimson said replied

elisabeth recogniced the other girl with the red hair as the really awesome girl which was a threat to her throneship 'you she said

eek replied crimson

Because Crimson was next in line for the throne Crimson was also not related to Elisabeth by blood but by marriage so she was next in the line for the throne becasue of this they were rivals. They were bitterly disliking each other and avoided each other.

hey your kind of comfy elezebeth said.

your a femal e dog replied crimson angrily because she was tired of the annoying heiress that always go on her nerves. She knew that there was anger because she was leader of the team and she wasn't.

But it wasn't the heiresses fault because she had high expectations because she was going to be maybe Queen of Beacon some day.

so then they almost kissed but then she said "this was getting a little creepy lets just be friends'

Elizabeth replied, "I think your right."

And then they lived happily ever after fighting crime as a team also with Negro Daisys and Sunfire Draken and they hunted monsters and evantually they took over Leftovers which was the planet.


	34. Through The Looking Glass, Part Three

I think this is the first Aside I've posted in months. It's kind of redundant to do Asides for Aliens Among Us, because the same sort of stories fit within the flow of the main story, but they'll probably return for Convergence.

The reason this has taken so long is because I generally wrote it alongside Those You Leave Behind so I wouldn't have to go over the episodes twice. As much as I enjoy watching RWBY, it's quite time-consuming to get my head around them.

Canon: Full.  
Context: Post-Stolen Flame  
Perspective: Third-person

* * *

**Through The Looking Glass, Part Three**

"We've still got time," Ruby announced to her team, returning from the kitchen with another bowl of popcorn. "We're watching Volume 2 right now! Is everyone ready?"

"Yes," Weiss huffed.

"Ready enough," Blake said.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Yang told her. "Which is not very."

"Then let's have the BEST DAY EVER!"

"... it's the middle of the night," Weiss reminded her partner.

"No, it's the title of the first episode," Blake corrected.

"Who are those two?" Ruby asked immediately upon seeing the grey-clothed black-haired guy and his female partner, who had green hair and red eyes.

"Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai, according to the wiki," Blake replied, sounding bored.

"Are they exchange students?" Ruby asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know."

Yang cringed when the duo stole an old man's Lien. "That wasn't very nice."

"I guess they're the bad guys," Ruby surmised.

Blake shook her head. Yang answered, "Not necessarily."

"I know this bookstore," Blake mentioned when Tukson's Book Trade appeared on screen. "The owner, Tukson, he's a faunus. I suspect he was or is a member of the White Fang, but maybe I'm just paranoid."

"Maybe not," Weiss said as the duo ominously entered the bookstore. Their conversation was casual, but seemed tense.

"Third Crusade..." Blake mused.

"What is it?" Yang asked her partner.

"It doesn't exist," she replied quickly. "It's a book about extremism... liberation... about whatever theory is popular. There are references to it in a lot of places, but no copy is known to exist."

"Maybe no copy exists on-" Ruby began, but was cut off by the sudden aggression on screen.

Blake watched as they got into a fight, ending with a loud gunshot and a look of shock on Tukson's face. She said, with a tinge of sadness, "Well, I was not expecting that to happen. But I suppose it confirms it."

"He's not necessarily dead, you know," Weiss reminded her. "Even if the first volume was accurate, this is what would have happened if we were still on Remnant. Now that we're here-"

"The future has changed," Blake finished.

"Whatever our lives might have been, if the time continuum was disrupted, our destinies have changed," Ruby recited.

"Who said that?" the cat faunus asked.

"Spock," Ruby replied with a laugh. She turned her attention back to the screen, where her animated self was presenting her "Best Day Ever" plan.

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "You would do that, wouldn't you?"

"Yup!" Ruby replied, popping the p. "Ooh... food fight!"

The food fight was intense, more like an actual fight with food used as weapons than a normal food fight. Of course, that wasn't the case from their point of view. Yang remarked on it. "I really don't think food fights look like that here."

Outside, Sun Wukong walked with his friend, a young man with a red jacket and blue hair. Blake winced when he revealed her secret. "I can't believe he told Neptune that!"

"Neptune?" Weiss asked. She noted that the blue-haired guy was kind of good looking... kind of.

"Wiki."

"Relax, Blake, he just wasn't thinking," Ruby told her. "That sounds worse, doesn't it?"

The food fight ended with the room destroyed and everyone, including Neptune, covered in food. As the students laughed, Ozpin had a discussion with Glynda.

"After all, it isn't a role they'll get to have forever," Blake echoed. "Ominous."

"And sad," Ruby added.

The scene cut away to Mercury and Emerald approaching Roman Torchwick in a warehouse full of White Fang members and stolen Dust.

"Well, they're the bad guys, it's confirmed," Yang remarked.

"There's that lady again!" Ruby pointed out when Cinder Fall showed up.

"So, they're doing something bad, but we don't know what it is," Weiss said grumpily. "Useful."

"Cinder is really scary though," Ruby added as the episode ended with the Volume 2 opening. "Ooh! New opening!"

Weiss almost skipped it, but decided to let Ruby watch it at least once before advancing to the next episode. "Hmm... Welcome to Beacon."

The episode began with an ominous exchange between Professor Ozpin and another man.

"That's General Ironwood, Headmaster of Atlas' main hunting academy," Weiss explained. "I think he holds a few other positions as well."

"A show of power," Yang echoed as the two headmasters argued over bringing the military airships. "Not very much power, is it?"

"Huh?"

"Remember that movie, Battleship?" Ruby reminded her. "How they had that rim-thing and there was a really big fleet?"

"Oh, I guess," Weiss replied. "I'm thinking about what he said. Something bad going on behind the scenes."

The show suddenly cut to Team RWBY playing a game in the library. Ruby recognized it right away. "Oh, hey! That's Remnant: The Game! I was gonna show you guys how to play it, but..."

"I guess we'll never do that now," Yang said glumly.

"If you really want, we can make our own."

"I would do much better than that," Weiss complained.

"Uh, no, obviously you didn't," Yang reminded her.

"Hmph. Who is that idiot?" Weiss asked when Neptune stepped in. "I would never fall for him. Never."

Ruby watched as the on-screen Blake stormed off. "Hey, what's up with Blake?"

Their own Blake attempted to explain. "I- I guess _will be_ is the right word- worried about the White Fang. The stuff that happened at the docks... and possibly whatever happened after. Oh, here's our explanation."

They watched as Blake dodged questions from Ozpin, who finally asked her why she wore the bow. Why she hid.

"You already know why," she muttered.

The focus shifted back to the rest of RWBY as they arrived in their dorm. On-screen, Weiss accused Blake of being "quiet, antisocial and moody." She confronted Blake in an elaborate pose that was revealed to be her standing on a chair.

"Hmph. Undignified."

"So you would confront me about it," Blake mentioned. "I'm not sure what to think of that, to be honest."

"We decided to do it ourselves, didn't we?" Yang theorized as their animated selves discussed going after the White Fang. "I guess it didn't work out."

"Maybe. I don't remember. Do you?"

"No. Maybe this hasn't happened yet- wasn't supposed to happen yet. I don't know."

"All this meta stuff is confusing, huh," Yang commented.

"Yeah," they all agreed.

Suddenly, the on-screen Ruby realized that she had left her board game in the library, and ran off to retrieve it. On the way out, she ran into another student- or rather, a fake student.

"Uh-oh," Ruby commented. "Those are the bad guys. And it looks like we don't know that."

"This worries me," Blake said. "If they're really there, and nobody realizes who they are-"

"Blake," Weiss interrupted. "You're going to drive yourself crazy if you keep worrying about what's happening back on Remnant."

"I know, I just-"

"Next episode!"

"I liked the first season music better," Yang commented upon seeing the opening credits for the third time.

Weiss voiced her disgust at Jaune's advances. "Ugh. If-when-if we get back, I am having a long chat with that idiot."

"Come on, Weiss, don't be mean," Ruby told her. "He's probably just lonely."

"He's a blind idiot."

"Yeah, I kind of agree with Weiss," Yang added.

The scene changed to RWBY in their dorm room, in a different set of outfits. Ruby was the first to point it out. "Hey! I guess we did get to use those, after all!"

On-screen, their animated selves discussed plans. Blake opined, "This seems logical."

"Oh, of course they would interrupt," Yang commented when Sun and his partner barged in on their discussion.

"Believe me, this wouldn't be a problem," Weiss snapped as the animated Ruby dragged her animated self away from Neptune. "There is not a single thing charming about that blue-haired imbecile."

The episode moved on to Ruby and Weiss approaching the Cross Continental Transmit tower. Weiss huffed at the impressed Ruby. "You would act like that, wouldn't you?"

"Yup," Ruby replied, popping the p.

"Hey, it's that weird girl from the docks," Yang pointed out when Penny appeared.

While the animated Ruby began talking with the orange-haired girl, the focus shifted to Weiss as she ascended the tower, using her scroll to get in and telling the holographic receptionist to connect her to Atlas.

"You know, I think Skype is actually better," Ruby said as her animated partner began to make her call.

"You're comparing that ugly piece of junk with one of our greatest technological achievements?" Weiss snapped angrily.

"Well, I mean, there's all the satellites and servers and routers and stuff that make it work, right? So that's pretty cool."

"You dolt."

"You actually have access to those files?" Blake asked, interrupting them.

"My father expects... expected me to take over the company. As soon as possible," Weiss replied. She paused and sighed sadly. "I suppose Winter will have that forced upon her now."

"Why is she being so evasive?" Weiss asked as the animated Ruby chased the animated Penny.

Blake glanced at the screen. "She's a robot."

The other three stared at her, their attention no longer on the chase on screen. "What?"

"Just keep watching."

Ruby was distracted by the displays of Atlesian military robots. "Whoa... I wish I got to see those in person."

"It's a big target," Yang commented on the Paladin.

"But it's-"

"A big target. It's great on Remnant, but a guy with an RPG or a roadside bomb... it's toast," she said quietly.

"I still think Earth's military stuff is ugly," Ruby opined. "Except the planes. Those are cool."

"It is ugly. It's effective," Weiss answered.

"See? She's a robot," Blake repeated, motioning to Penny as she revealed that she was not a real girl.

"Cliffhanger! Next episode, stat!"

"I told you she was a synthetic," Blake commented as the robot girl explained her situation.

"Aww, you're being so nice to her," Yang added, talking about her animated sister.

"Well, yeah," Ruby insisted. "Just because she's made of nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts- wait, that's exactly what I'm saying, isn't it?"

"Yes," Weiss said coldly.

The scene shifted to Yang riding dangerously, pulling Bumblebee to a stop in front of Junior's club. "I miss that bike."

"Isn't that the club you blew up?" her sister asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. It's the best place to get information, any kind of information."

Quietly, she added, "I just hope I don't have to do it through force this time."

"You won't," her sister reminded her.

"Huh?"

"You won't. Even if this was supposed to happen, now you know, so you can resolve things peacefully when you actually do it."

"Oh... yeah, I guess," the blonde replied warily. "This fourth wall stuff is weird."

"Not what it means," Weiss muttered under their earshot.

The next shot was a closeup of Blake tracing her fingers over a White Fang marking, pulling out to reveal her and Neptune infiltrating a meeting.

"I remember these," the cat faunus mentioned. "The Grimm masks, the regular meetings, all of it. It brought me acceptance, even peace once. Even after we lost our way."

"You don't like talking about it, do you?" Ruby asked.

She shook her head. "No. I can never really escape my past, even though I've been trying for years. I think, though, I think I can make something better of it this time. And- oh, of course Torchwick is involved."

"Hey, he has the robot, too," her partner commented. "I wonder if it's the same robot?"

"I'm not sure if I want to know what they're going to do with it," Blake commented. "And he sounds like they have more. And there's Neo."

"And that was a nice segue," Yang said when the show suddenly went back to the club, where Junior was explaining that he hadn't seen or heard anything. "Well, that's useful."

The scene was short and it quickly returned to the White Fang warehouse. "This doesn't look good."

On-screen, Blake shot out an electrical panel, the lights went out, and they escaped out a window. "Well, that was fortuitously placed."

"Did you just-"

"Use a big word?" Yang responded. "Why yes, my aristocratic friend, I did."

"This chase is going to be awesome!" Ruby shouted as the mech chased Blake and Sun and the rest of them chased the robot, Yang and Neptune riding Bumblebee. "And it is awesome!"

They used their abilities to slow down the robot and knock it off the highway before fighting it directly. Ruby enthusiastically cheered her animated team on, Weiss looked bored, Blake watched carefully, and Yang slunk into her seat.

"You okay?" Blake asked her partner quietly.

"Yeah, it's just that the last time I used my Semblance... people _exploded_."

"We can stop here if you want," her sister told her as the episode drew to a close.

"I'm fine," she insisted, more angry sounding than she intended. "Just go on to the next episode."

The little crimsonette was unfazed and moved on to the next episode, which began with Pyrrha fighting CRDL.

"Go Pyrrha!" she shouted. Unsurprisingly, the Mistralian easily defeated her opponents.

"Hey, it's the bad guy again," Blake pointed out when Mercury requested to fight her. They fought for a while, and he was much more skilled than Cardin, parrying and trading blows with Pyrrha. Then, suddenly, he forfeited. The cat faunus immediately realized why. "He was testing her."

"And more tired Blake," Yang said to her partner as Sun confronted her on-screen alter ego. "You're not going to do this to us, Blake?"

_I'm more worried about you_, she almost said, but didn't. "No."

"So, the dance is coming up," Yang mentioned. "Was coming up. Has come up. How does time work, again?"

"We've been over this. We don't know." Weiss reminded them. As the on-screen Weiss was serenaded by Jaune, she grumbled. "So oblivious. And an idiot."

"Hey, maybe since Weiss is here, he got together with Pyrrha!" Ruby suggested.

"I hope so," Weiss said. Most of her just wanted the blonde off her back, but the deeply buried sensitive part wanted them to be together so they could be happy. "But I certainly wouldn't be going with Neptune, either."

"Who would you go with?" Ruby asked, curious.

"I... don't know," she admitted. "I've never really thought about it, not there and not here."

The next scene was another session with Jaune and Pyrrha on the roof. Their topic of conversation was the white-haired heiress, who shrieked at the screen. "And he's still so oblivious!"

"Yeah," Yang muttered. "Pyrrha obviously likes him, and I mean, if I was Jaune, I'd be all over her. I don't know why he's still going after you- no offence, Weiss."

"Hmph." None of them were quite sure how to interpret that.

"I don't get it. Was she watching the whole thing?" the blonde asked after Emerald's line.

The next scene focused on Cinder and her minion. Blake told her group, "Shh. This is important."

"I think they're just talking about Pyrrha," Ruby said, before the topic changed. The villains mentioned something about taking away the power of their enemy. "That's really evil sounding."

"Well, maybe we'll find out what it is later," her partner suggested.

"No, not yet," Blake said darkly.

Nobody heard her over the opening titles of the next episode. Ruby commented, "It's catchy."

"Aren't those tablecloths the same?" Yang commented. On screen, the heiress was presenting two seemingly identical scraps of fabric to Ruby.

"They're slightly different," the real Weiss told her. She recoiled when Neptune arrived and her alter ego melted. "Ugh."

"Would you really force me to go?" Blake asked as the animated Yang pulled her animated self away from an animated computer terminal.

Her partner slowly nodded. "There's a reason. I think they're going to say it... after this."

The scene switched to Jaune, trying to get advice from Ren on his girl issues. His _Weiss_ issues. The heiress screeched at the television, "WHY WON'T HE JUST GO OUT WITH PYRRHA?!"

"Calm down, Weiss."

"AND PYRRHA STILL WON'T DO IT? WHY IS EVERYONE ON THIS SHOW SO IDIOTIC?"

Ruby took offence. "Hey!"

Blake pointed out, "You know you're insulting yourself, right?"

She sighed. "I know."

They watched the next section in silence. On-screen, Yang described how her obsessive search for her mother as a child almost got her and Ruby killed.

"Is all of that true?" the cat faunus asked quietly.

The blonde answered slowly and quietly. "Yeah."

"And we're back to the idiots," Weiss sighed, watching herself ask the blue-haired fool to the dance.

"Why would you put me in heels?" Ruby complained. "You wouldn't really do that, would you?"

"Maybe..."

"Why can't I just wear a tuxedo like I wanted to?"

"You're not going to turn many heads in a tux, Ruby," her sister told her. "Well, not the heads you want. Only the weird guys and the wimpy guys and the girls."

"They can be nice too..."

"Wow, Blake, you really clean up nicely," Yang commented about her partner, who blushed slightly.

"So, dance arc," Blake muttered as the episode ended. "Something big is going to happen."

The next episode, with the odd title _Dance Dance Infiltration_, opened with a broad view of the dance. The blonde brawler commented, "Wow, looks like a party."

Weiss was surprised when Jaune handed his punch to Ruby and went to deal with an obviously sad Pyrrha. "Is he actually going to do the right thing?"

They listened to Jaune's awkwardness, Pyrrha's tirade, and Neptune's discomfort in silence. The heiress was the first to comment. "He _did_."

"He's not a bad guy, you know," Yang told her. "Just... _inexperienced_."

"I wonder if they're together?" Ruby asked. "I mean- _is he wearing a dress_?"

"Yep," Yang confirmed. "Not a man-dress either. That's like a wedding dress."

On-screen, the dress-wearing boy launched into a surprisingly good dance routine. Weiss reluctantly said, "I would be surprised if they _weren't_ together."

"And now it's the evil lady being evil," Ruby complained. Cinder sneaked out of the dance and broke into the Cross-Continental Transmit tower in a sequence heavily marred by cringe-worthy animation. "Ew."

"Don't like her?"

"The way she moves. It's so _weird_."

On-screen, Ruby confronted the woman at the top of the tower. The fight scene was short, and ended with the intruder disappearing into the night. "Aww..."

After briefly showing General Ironwood, the show cut back to the dance, ending the episode on a discordant note, with everyone, including the bad guys, trying their best to enjoy the night.

"So I guess they sort of know that they're up to stuff," Yang said as Ozpin, Ironwood, and Goodwitch discussed the events of the last episode in the beginning of the next episode.

Ruby was confused. "What."

"Of course the general wants to use military force," Weiss said.

"Well, it would work," Yang commented.

"Unless that was the plan all along," Blake reminded her.

"Zwei!" Ruby shouted when the dog popped out of his shipping tube.

Weiss was confused. "How does that even work?"

"Well, the tube is actually a few inches bigger than that," Yang explained. "Aww, Weiss likes him!"

"_I do not._"

"I think this is racist," Blake added.

The next scene was set in the amphitheatre and featured a speech by Ozpin. Ruby mentioned, "I've heard this speech before! Well, he said one that was pretty much the same, anyway."

"I think it would be more impressive in person," her sister opined.

"Yeah."

They watched as Ruby, on screen, failed to sign them up for the mission they wanted until the Headmaster intervened.

"Ozpin's actually letting us break the rules?"

"I think he always expected us to try it." Yang said. "Maybe he was really testing us."

"I wonder if anyone would have taken that mission?" Weiss asked. "Hmm."

"So team CFVY is back from what was apparently a horrible mission," she commented when they appeared.

"Of course Coco's beauty is never tarnished," Yang commented.

"So I wonder who we're going to be-"

"Oobleck?" They all asked in shocked unison.

"This can't be accurate, can it?" Weiss complained, hurriedly starting the next episode.

The next episode picked up right where the last left off. Oobleck hyperactively explained the mission, while a shocked Team RWBY hung back and had a last-minute chat with JNPR.

"I wonder how they're doing," Yang wondered.

"I'm sure they're fine," Ruby told her sister.

Aboard the airship, Oobleck explained Mountain Glenn- old news for all of them. Then they landed and disembarked, when the Professor remarked on the backpack Ruby wasn't supposed to bring.

"Uh oh..."

Then Zwei jumped out of the bag and Oobleck praised Ruby.

Ruby exclaimed. "I'm a genius!"

Yang commented about the fight scenes, "That's an interesting style."

"Oh, he's asking why we wanted to become huntresses," Ruby remarked.

Weiss told her, "We've already been over this."

"Yeah..."

Near the end of the episode, Oobleck took Ruby aside and they observed some of the largest Grimm in existence. Blake's ears twitched. "Goliath... would have been something to see one for real."

"If Crescent Rose wouldn't do anything, that means even a real huntress wouldn't be able to do much," Weiss realized. "How would you kill one?"

"Paveway," Yang muttered.

"What?"

She took a deep breath. "When I was in, well, you know, we were being attacked from a building when it suddenly just blew up. After we got back here, I looked it up, and apparently they have bombs here that can punch through yards of concrete and... well... you know."

"Or you could just use a battleship!" Ruby suggested.

"On land?" Weiss pointed out.

"A land battleship, maybe?"

"Why are we here?" Yang asked, reflecting her character's thoughts. "I mean, why are we here, on this planet, watching ourselves?"

"I don't know," her partner responded. "We don't know."

"Well, that was useless," Weiss complained at the end of the episode.

"To us, because we lived in that world," Blake theorized. "But to its intended audience, it would be very informative."

The next episode began with General Ironwood talking to Glynda about why he couldn't sleep. Weiss commented that it was a dramatic shift from the end of the last episode. The scene was brief, transitioning to the four girls discussing why they became huntresses.

"Haven't we had this exact same conversation?" Blake asked.

Yang nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Ruby wants to be the hero, I want to fix my family's mistakes, Blake is the atoner, and Yang is bored." She paused. "I wonder if we'll still be able to do all that?"

"Don't worry, Weiss!" Ruby assured her partner. "We'll get back to Remnant and everything will be just fine."

"Easy for you to say."

"We'll _make_ it fine!"

"And yet it's all a romanticized vision," Weiss echoed. "Or is it?"

They watched as the animated Ruby chased Zwei and accidentally discovered the White Fang. She asked herself, "Why aren't you carrying Crescent Rose properly?"

"I think you're trying to be stealthy," Blake theorized. "But you're doing it wrong."

"And apparently you really suck at punching," Weiss told her partner.

She curled up. "Guys not funny."

They watched in silence as their counterparts found where Ruby had fallen into the White Fang base.

"An underground base," Yang mentioned. "Hah, I get it."

"Of course _you_ would get it," her white-haired teammate groused.

"Huh, I didn't realize that was also a weapon," Ruby noted as Professor Oobleck flicked his thermos into a bat. As soon as the episode ended, she started the next one before anyone could say anything.

Yang gritted her teeth as Torchwick taunted Ruby on-screen. "Man, if I were there... well, I'm not going to have anything against smashing _his_ face in."

"Relax, Yang," her partner soothed. "It hasn't happened and it's not going to happen."

"It still makes me angry."

"You're her big sister," Weiss told her. "Of course it does."

Roman was interrupted by a large explosion and the arrival of the rest of RWBY, accompanied by Zwei and Oobleck. They fought briefly before Ruby escaped and Torchwick ordered the Faunus to start the train.

"What's he doing with that train?" the real Ruby asked.

Blake bit her lip. "Nothing good."

"I guess we're... yeah, looks like we're stopping the train," Yang observed. "And of course- is that a bomb? It's a bomb. Doesn't look big enough to do much damage, though."

"They explode and open up- oh, he's explaining it now." Blake stopped talking as Oobleck delivered his exposition- the train was opening holes in the tunnel, and would let the Grimm into Vale when it reached the end of the tracks.

"I really hope we can stop this," Ruby muttered. She received no answer, though they were all thinking the same thing.

"So, Ruby versus the White Fang, Yang versus Neo, Weiss versus the big guy, and myself versus Torchwick," Blake observed. "This is almost the worst combination we could have."

"Why is that?" Weiss asked.

"Well, you're agile, but not very tough," the faunus explained.

"Hey!"

"It's kind of true," Yang reminded her.

"One good hit from that guy and you're down, and it's going to be hard to take him down with Myrtenaster and Glyphs, especially in a tight train car."

"And what about me?" the blonde brawler asked.

"You rely too much on brute strength, especially when you're agitated, which that woman is deliberately exploiting."

"And you?"

She shook her head. "Torchwick isn't much of a fighter. I think any of us would have a good chance against him... if it wasn't just him."

They watched quietly as their opponents defeated them on screen, cringing at each hit. Yang echoed, "We can't let that happen."

After being defeated, the four regrouped, with the train quickly hurtling toward Vale and seemingly nothing they could do. Ruby blinked. "We... lost?"

"Maybe," Blake replied quietly as the video ended. The team leader went to start the next one, but couldn't find it.

"What?" Ruby wailed, frantically scrolling through the list of related videos. "Where's the next one?"

"It's not out yet," Blake told them matter-of-factly. "It won't be out until next week."

"But I need to know what happens!" Ruby whined.

"We all do," Yang agreed. "We _could_ bother Monty for an early version of the episode, but it's only a week. I think we can wait."

Ruby pouted. "Fine. Next week, though, we're watching it as soon as we can."


	35. Inertia

What has Gemstone been doing in the meantime, other than acting as a convenient way to give RWBY semi-normal lives? A very short Aside that I felt I should finish.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: Yes  
Context: during Aliens Among Us

**Emergence: Aside  
Inertia**

Even with several classified operations under his belt, if someone had told Harold Iverson that he would be involved with harbouring four teenaged aliens that inexplicably existed in fiction, he would have told them they were out of their mind.

The whole thing just seemed unreal. Something that didn't, couldn't happen in real life. But it was real- the four girls were living proof of that. They simply seemed unreal by comparison, since it had never happened outside the realm of science fiction.

In the face of the unknown threat, they had defaulted to what they usually did, which in this case meant not much at all. Collect intelligence, evaluate threats, safeguard assets.

There wasn't much intelligence to collect. They got as much as they could from the girls, of course, but it was ultimately of little use in the current situation. What they had learned about Remnan culture and technology was useful to someone, but not his group.

They did have several task forces dedicated to evaluating potential interdimensional threats, but the last he had heard, they hadn't been able to come up with anything past "we have no idea what's going to happen or what to do if it does".

The only real assets they had to safeguard were the girls in question. Keeping them secret seemed like the natural course of action, though he would hesitantly admit that it was decision that may have been influenced by... less than rational thinking. In any case, the only serious threats were Islamic extremists wanting revenge on the Bride and the Russians going after their princess again. The former didn't know enough to link the two and the latter weren't crazy enough to try anything in Canada.

The girls, understandably, wanted to go home, and they'd put some effort into that path. But when Stephen Hawking says that he has no idea... well, it would take a while to say the least.

So it was business as usual, if what they did could be considered usual. Today, he was tasked with bringing two more into the fold of borderline insanity.

"Good morning, Mister Ishikawa, Ms Walker. What you're about to be briefed on may seem like an exaggerated fiction at times. I can assure you, however, that it is absolutely real. With that out of the way..."


	36. Through The Looking Glass, Part Four

Finally finished the Through The Looking Glass series of Asides. It could almost be its own fic, couldn't it?

Canon: Full.  
Context: Early Aliens Among Us  
Perspective: Third-person

* * *

**Emergence: Aside  
Through The Looking Glass, Part Four**

It had been a difficult week for Team RWBY. They'd been, to use a Terran colloquialism, thrown in the deep end. It started with a visit from government agents, then they were handed false identities and a crash-course in using them, then they moved into a new house, then school, then a football game, then a Halloween party, then finally they could relax a bit.

"Alright, guys, the last episode of the volume is out, and we finally have time to watch it," Ruby announced, waving the remote of their new smart TV. "Tonight, we're going to watch the shocking conclusion of RWBY Volume 2!"

"Oh, great, she's on a dramatic streak again," Weiss grumbled. She ripped open a bag of kettle chips and dumped it into the bowl in front of her. "Might as well get this over with."

"Now, I heard this episode is shocking, so I want to make sure we're all ready-"

"We're ready!" the irate heiress snapped. "Just start the show!"

"Okay, geez." Ruby plunked herself down on the couch, irritatingly close to her partner, and pressed the play button.

The episode opened not with RWBY as they had expected, but with a shot of Jaune in bed, his scroll ringing. He answered it, got nothing but silence, and hung up before going back to sleep. Weiss glared at the high-definition representation of the blonde oaf. "You idiot."

The next scene depicted JNPR heading out toward their Bullhead, assuring themselves RWBY would be fine before they spotted a sudden burst of smoke in the city and alarms started going off. Weiss shrieked, "I told you so!"

"Relax, Weiss," Ruby told her partner, rubbing her shoulders. "It didn't happen this way. Or it won't."

"Yes, for all we know, they could have wiped out half the city!"

"I'm sure the people at home handled it fine," Ruby assured her. "Or maybe it didn't happen at all."

"Hey, guys, let's see what happened first," Yang reminded them. She motioned to the plotting, scheming bad guys on the screen. "And it turns out we _did_ throw a wrench into their plans."

Cinder and her minions disappeared, replaced by a surrounded RWBY leaping into action in the city. A King Taijitu roared and the Grimm charged forward. Ruby planted Crescent Rose and opened fire, her sister jumping into the air and firing down beside her.

"Go RWBY!" Blake cut down a Beowolf with her weapon in sword form before transforming it into a pistol and firing into the oncoming Grimm. After elegantly taking down three Beowolves, Weiss summoned her Glyphs, conjuring up an ice blade. Behind her, Yang returned to the ground and punched several cars toward the Grimm.

"Okay, this is not exactly accurate," Blake pointed out in real life. "Where is everyone?"

"Presumably, they didn't want to show the ugliest parts of a Grimm attack," Yang replied quietly. "I'm not sure what to think of that."

"If they're going to show this, they should show everything."

"Then people wouldn't want to watch it, Weiss," Ruby reminded her in a surprisingly sage-like manner. The image of a mature, wise Ruby Rose was shattered a moment later when Nora arrived, smashing down the King Taijitu and the crimsonette let out an excited cheer in response.

The rest of Team JNPR was right behind her, exchanging brief banter before fighting the Grimm. A giant Ursa approached Jaune, and he responded with a series of wild but powerful slashes. Weiss was not impressed. "He still has no technique."

More reinforcements arrived quickly. The first was Sun and Neptune. After they bragged about being junior detectives, Weiss rolled her eyes, Ruby giggled, and Yang and Blake shared a look.

They were joined by Atlesian military robots dropping from the sky, who stood in place and fired on the Grimm.

"Ugh, who programmed them?" Yang complained. "Wait, don't answer. We did."

"Huh?"

"Nevermind."

Cinder nodded to her minions, and they leaped into battle against the Grimm. Blake commented on it, "Gaining our trust but standing beside us in battle. That's a hard deception to combat."

"Zwei!" Ruby shouted excitedly when the corgi emerged from the breach, followed by Oobleck jumping out of a damaged Paladin. He was joined by Professor Port, and they made easy work of a pack of Grimm.

"And Team CFVY. That's pronounced Coffee," Blake announced as the second-years emerged on the scene, effortlessly fighting their way through the Grimm. Coco, their stylish team leader, transformed her purse into a rotary cannon and shredded the incoming horde.

After that glorious bit of carnage, it shifted to a closeup of Glynda Goodwitch swatting away Grimm. Yang mentioned, "She looks _really_ pissed off."

With one more wave of her crop, she closed off the opening and turned the square back to the way it was. Weiss sighed, "It's not really that perfect."

"I dunno, Professor Goodwitch is pretty good."

The white-haired heiress shook her head. "Not that good. If you look closely at what something someone like her repairs, you can tell it's been forced back together. Far from as good as new."

"Whatever, Weiss. Good enough."

"I suppose."

The next scene surprised them a bit. Roman Torchwick was being escorted aboard an airship by the very people he was working with, under arrest.

"All part of the plan," Blake inferred.

Yang whistled. "_Damn_."

After Torchwick was taken away, Team RWBY found themselves staring at themselves. On screen, they talked about their success.

"I guess that is one way of looking at it," Blake admitted to her own words. Well, something she might have said under different circumstances, anyway. "A limited success, but still a success."

After the animated Yang made a comment about sleep, Ozpin appeared on the screen, videoconferencing with the Vale council.

"Why do I have a feeling this is playing right into their hands?" Weiss remarked. "I think they always did intend to get General Ironwood into that position... but why?"

"We could ask," Ruby suggested.

"And what if the real reason is different than the fictional one?" Blake asked.

"What?"

"What if we ask and they give us the wrong answer."

"Uh..."

They watched as Roman gloated to General Ironwood from within his cell. Weiss sighed. "And they're definitely playing into the villain's hands."

"Of course," Blake said. "All we did was speed things up."

"Maybe we slowed them down?" Ruby asked.

"Guys, this didn't happen. Something else did," Yang reminded them. "Or will. We know something useful now, and that's a victory."

"Yeah."

The next scene was very short, with Cinder being questioned by her mooks and then another voice and another face appeared. Blake narrowed her eyes, ears twitching. "Adam."

"You know him?"

"Unfortunately," the cat faunus admitted. "He was the one who brought me into the White Fang... and the one who showed me why I should leave."

"Ouch." Yang winced. The credits rolled, but the scene after made her expression turn to shock.

"Who is that?" her partner asked.

"The lady from the train," Weiss said flatly. "I thought she was White Fang."

"I know that, but who is it?"

Yang replied slowly, "That's Raven Branwen."

Ruby added, "Uncle Qrow's sister!"

The blonde nodded. "My biological mother."

"I thought she was dead," her sister said.

"A lot of people do," Yang replied. "She just kind of disappeared, and I've been searching for her for almost a decade. Damn it, I almost got the answers, too."

"We'll find her, Yang," Ruby assured her sister. "And we're going to go back with what we know, and we're gonna stop the bad guys and make everything better and ride off into the sunset."

"I admire your optimism," Blake said, unwilling to reveal her true feelings. In her view, this was probably the closest they would get to making it home. She blinked. "Wait, ride off into the sunset?"

She explained, "It's an Earth thing."

"Weird planet," Blake muttered.

Weiss shared a look with the faunus. "Get used to it."


	37. A Year of Strange Times

The original OCs are back by popular demand. Shorter than I wanted because I wanted to get some sleep.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: Yes  
Context: after Aliens Among Us

**Emergence: Aside  
A Year of Strange Times**

_**Sam**_

"Is this the same goddamn bar again?"

I paused and turned to Cliff, no doubt with a puzzled look on my face. "Well, yeah, we always go to the same bar."

He shrugged. "Just saying, maybe we should try something different."

"Since when did you want to do anything different?" Isaac asked. He received only a noncommital grunt in response.

At the end of May, everyone was finally done for the year and we could legitimately go out and celebrate. We weren't the only ones- students flocked from every campus toward pubs and parties. Ben was still working, but joined us anyway.

They seated us in a booth one over from the one we had been in a few months ago. I ordered a pitcher of beer, Ben ordered a poutine as a late dinner, and Cliff ordered a rum and coke as his one drink for the night.

"So," I said offhand, reaching over and stealing one of Ben's fries. He glared angrily at me. "It's been a weird fucking year, hasn't it?"

"Let's see, fictional characters coming to life, chasing them halfway across the world, then fucking CSIS steps in..." Cliff reached over and tried to steal some of Ben's poutine, almost getting his fingers impaled in the process. "Yeah, that's pretty fucking weird."

"I wonder what happened to them," Isaac mentioned, sipping on his beer.

"Haven't you been keeping in touch?" I asked, surprised.

He replied sheepishly, "No."

"They're doing okay," I answered. We hadn't exchanged many messages, but we were still technically in contact. "They're more or less the same way we were back then. Except for the whole being aliens thing."

"Mmm," Cliff acknowledged. "Seriously, how are they doing?"

"Fine, I guess," I told him. "They seem to be enjoying Earth. Ruby is Ruby, Yang is Yang, Blake is Blake and Weiss is apparently a gamer now."

He nearly spit out his drink. "Wait, what?"

"Apparently Weiss has become irreversibly contaminated. She's wild, loose, 'not princess-y', and plays a lot of Global Offensive."

"No shit? Wow." Cliff swished around his drink before turning serious. "Must be hell for them, though. Everything they know is gone."

"Well, not everything-"

"Pretty damn close. You know what I mean," he replied harshly. "And they're being watched, and they're different... yeah."

"It's RWBY, man," I reminded him. "If there's anyone who can handle it, it's them."

"Yeah, there's that," Isaac agreed.

I poured myself another beer and asked, "So, enough about that, what are you guys doing now that we're done school?"

Cliff rolled his eyes. "Going home."

I motioned to Ben. He glared at me. "I live here."

"Isaac?"

"I dunno," he replied with a shrug. "I'm going to try to get a job, but I don't know if it'll be easier here or somewhere else. You?"

To be honest, I hadn't really thought about it much. "I think I'll stick around, get a job here. I've been being lazy but I've got some leads to try."

"Cool."

"Well, I wish we had more time," I said, filling up my glass one last time. I raised it. "To a year of strange times."


	38. The Picture

Since I've been having a lot of trouble with the next chapter of Convergence, here's something comparatively light and fluffy to tide you over. It's not intended to be serious, but maybe kind of meta.

I can't actually remember when Winter and Qrow were revealed. So if I botched the timing, just call it a point of divergence from reality.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: Yes  
Context: Convergence - First Interlude

**Emergence: Aside  
The Picture**

"Hey Weiss," Ruby called, from a position irritatingly close to her shoulder. The suddenness of the declaration would have startled the whitehead if she hadn't been completely desensitized by that point.

With a deft flick of her fingers, she minimized all her windows and locked her computer. "Yes, Ruby?"

"Did you see Winter's new design?" the crimsonette asked excitedly, bouncing on to the couch beside her. "Ooh! And they did Uncle Qrow, too!"

It took Weiss a moment to figure out what her partner was talking about. Not her sister, not Ruby's uncle, but the graphical fictionalized representations of the people the knew and loved. "No, I haven't. Why?"

Ruby poked her fingers together, slightly deflated. "Well, they did a really good job on Uncle Qrow- he's super lifelike and awesome, but... well..."

"Christ, what did they do to Winter?" she breathed, quickly typing in her password and logging in again. Before she could even ask, Ruby reached over, opened Firefox, and typed in a URL at inhuman speed.

She recoiled visibly when she saw the image on the screen. "The fuck? She looks like she's thirty! I gave them a picture. It's not rocket science!"

"Yeah, um, I guess there was a misunderstanding or something," Ruby suggested. "Or maybe they saw that Winter was younger and they didn't want to be weird so they made her older?"

"Maybe." Weiss deftly alt-tabbed into an open file window and browsed to her photos folder. She opened one and skipped past a few before finding the one she was looking for. Then she let out a sharp, biting laugh. "Oh, _wow_."

"Huh?" Ruby leaned over to see, completely violating any personal space the older girl might have had. "Hey, that's Winter! And... Winter?"

The picture showed the two Schnee sisters, Weiss perhaps a year or two younger and Winter in her early teens. Weiss wore an outfit very similar to the one she fought in at Beacon, and Winter had a simpler dress complimented with cobalt blue instead of deep red. Despite the fact that only Weiss wore heels, they were about the same height. Both of them were smiling, Winter more broadly than her older sister. They stood side by side, close enough to barely touch.

Behind them and to the left was a woman in the white and grey uniform of the Atlasian military. Her hair was perhaps a shade darker than the Schnees, and tied up into a bun. Unlike the smiling sisters, her look was almost completely serious, with maybe the thinnest of smiles poking out.

Ruby pointed. "Who's that?"

"Specialist Frost," Weiss answered after a pause. She grimaced. "For a while, there was a credible and specific threat from the White Fang against myself and my sister. Security was tightened up. Wherever we went, there would always be at least one guard with us. Frost was one of these guards."

"That didn't sound like a happy time," Ruby commented.

"We managed," Weiss replied, managing a smile. "I remember this picture. It was supposed to be a publicity shot of me and Winter. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I remember Frost was with us all day and she was nice to us. I remember her saying we should just have some fun like normal teenagers. So we invited her into the shoot for some reason. Maybe I was trying to spite my father."

"I don't think anyone ever saw the uncropped version of this picture," she continued, the smile becoming wistful. "My father was not happy. He said that it gave the opposite message of what he intended. That the White Fang was such a dire threat that we could not go anywhere without an army. I told him that I had only done as he had instructed."

"Whoa..."

"You know what? Oh well. I think this is easier to look at," Weiss said quietly. "I just wish I could see Winter again."

Ruby gently wrapped her in a one-armed hug. "Don't worry, Weiss. We'll find a way home."


	39. Not Part Of The Show

Have a deleted scene from Of Gods And Men. This one is basically complete, and there's nothing wrong with it, but it kind of interrupted the flow of the chapter and didn't really add anything except length. I found the tone a bit out of place, as well.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: Unspecified  
Context: Convergence – Late Act 2

* * *

**Emergence: Aside  
Not Part Of The Show**

"Man, this is such bullshit," Gavin Lloyd mused to his friend, trying to add a hint of levity to the situation as they quickly worked their way toward the exit. "I mean, we flew three thousand and all we get is a lousy terror threat."

"Those were fucking gunshots, man," Aaron reminded him, much more tense than his friend. "Let's get the fuck out of here before we- holy shit!"

He stopped suddenly and bolted in the opposite direction. Gavin's eyes widened when he caught a glimpse of Yang and Blake fighting Mercury. He didn't look for very long, following his friend in the opposite direction.

"Okay, what the fuck did I just see?"

"Yang and Blake fighting Mercury," an unfamiliar voice told them. "You don't want to stick around. Or use the front door."

Gavin whirled to face the man, who couldn't have been much older than him. "Who the fuck are you and what the fuck are you talking about?"

"Look, it's a long story, okay?" the strange man told him, waving them over and continuing to push through the crowds. "A really, really fucking long story that you wouldn't believe. It's real, we're gonna fucking die if we stay here, and I'll explain it later."

"Bella," Aaron said suddenly.

"You're not-"

"Blake's alias on Earth," the man said, without skipping a beat. He motioned urgently. "Long story, let's get the fuck out of here."

"This is fucked. Totally fucked."

"Tell me about it." He paused to shout at a group of very confused cosplayers. "Hey! Get the fuck out of here! Don't use the front door! This is a goddamn terrorist attack, move your-" He was interrupted by gunfire that was way too close for comfort. "Shit! Run!"

Gavin needed no second bidding. At some point, part of his brain had kicked in, and he realized that this was serious, life-threatening situation. A small part of his brain reminded him of who he had been dating, who he had hoped to meet here, and who he had just seen with live shotgun gauntlets on her wrists. Fiction becoming reality. It was surreal, maybe surreal enough to be laughed at, but as the adrenaline kicked in, none of that mattered anymore.

They tried to bolt, but found that the hundreds of people trying to do the same thing only impeded progress. The stranger pushed his way forward, pushing a young woman aside. Adrenaline was kicking in and caution was thrown to the wind. He shouted, "Fucking move, people!"

"Let's go!" Gavin urged.

They found themselves pushed out of the mass, now feeling very vulnerable out in the open. Finding a clearly marked fire exit, Gavin dashed forward and threw it open. He could hardly believe his luck.

Outside, a dozen officers pointed their weapons straight at them. Police cars were everywhere, and were still arriving. Civilians were being escorted away by armed officers, and a bloody body was being loaded onto an ambulance. Sirens echoed around the city blocks, and helicopters buzzed overhead.

"Hands in the air, now!" an authoritative voice shouted through a megaphone.

"I have never been so happy to see the police."


	40. Artificial Humanity

I figured it would be better to split some things off rather than try to cram too much into the interludes. This article could have and should have been a lot longer, but I'm far from an expert in AI.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: Unspecified  
Context: Convergence – Interlude 2

* * *

**Emergence: Aside  
****Artificial Humanity**

_A Confirmed Gynoid and the AI Question  
Ronald Sebastian_

We've all heard about superhumans, about Aura and Dust and all the incredible technology and terrifying monsters of Remnant. We all want to know the most intimate secrets of the lives of the four girls- which is a bit creepy, to be honest.

But the world is surprisingly quiet on perhaps the most interesting RWBY character of all: Penny.

Unfortunately, we don't know much about her, and most of what we think we know, we don't. It comes from the show, which we already know to be not strictly factual. We only know that Penny really exists because of a single tweet from TheRealWeissSchnee.

Penny is a lot like certain fictional AIs in her childlike demeanour, but the fact that she has a personality puts her aside from a baseline artificial general intelligence. Yet she's never demonstrated the feats of information processing and decision-making that define an AI in general or an artificial superintelligence especially.

She's a synthetic human rather than a thinking machine, designed to emulate the former rather than leverage the advantages of the latter. Why? Because she was not created to cure disease or mine data. She was created as a killbot, combining the use of Aura with a synthetic platform to be an unbeatable Grimm-destroying machine. She needs to be as human as possible to use Aura- or at least the scientists on Remnant believe so.

Of course, this is largely speculation. Maybe tomorrow we'll get a visitor from Atlas, perhaps Dr. Polandina himself, telling us we're all wrong about his creation.

Nevertheless, she's exciting news for fans of artificial intelligence. We know that AI is possible, and probably not that far away. There are good reasons to be afraid of the machine revolution, but many more good reasons to be excited about it.

And now we can add "adorkable cuteness" to that list.


	41. RWBY AMA

Some of you have probably seen this on Spacebattles already. I've had to make significant modifications to the formatting and content to get it remotely readable here.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: Unspecified  
Context: Convergence – Immediately following Interlude 2

**Emergence: Aside  
****RWBY AMA**

* * *

**IamA: We are Team RWBY. Ask us anything!**

_Posted by RedLikeRoses_

We are Team RWBY, huntresses in training (or at least we were) from Remnant. We have a show about us that was somehow made even though nobody knew Remnant was real, we were there in Texas and fought Cinder and the White Fang, and now we're here answering your questions.

Keep in mind, however, that there are certain topics we're not allowed or don't wish to discuss.

RedLikeRoses: Ruby Rose, aka Ruby Jones  
TheRealWeissSchnee: Weiss Schnee aka Anna Weiss  
black_belladonnas: Blake Belladonna aka Bella Blake  
HotterThanTheSun: Yang Xiao Long aka Linda Anderson

**fnueil  
**Where are you now?

_HotterThanTheSun  
_That's technically a secret, but it's all over the news.

**Washdisher**  
What are your favourite ships?

_RedLikeRoses  
_The battleships like Iowa (and Yamato if it wasn't sunk) and also the big airplane carrier thingies.

_TheRealWeissSchnee_  
My absolute favorite is the C-class airliner, but if I were to pick a Terran ship, probably the RMS Queen Mary. Ocean liners have a definite majesty to them, and it's a shame your world has largely abandoned oceanic travel.

_black_belladonnas_  
It's not really my thing, but I like the idea of the Zumwalt.

_HotterThanTheSun_  
Forward Unto Dawn.

_4days_  
Don't think that's what they meant, and which ones are canon?

**Gamester98**  
Could you ever consider getting close to a Terran in a romantic way.

_HotterThanTheSun  
_I don't see why not. It's about the person, not about their race.

_Gamester98_  
Have you ever, you know, gotten intimate ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

**IAmNotTheOne  
**What's your favorite (Remnan and Terran) song.

_RedLikeRoses_  
me: we are lighnting (similar to the volume 1 title music) and roard (from Earth)  
Weiss: Frozen Time (Chromium Tan)/Let It Go (from Frozen)  
Blake: This is hard. I was never really into music on Remnant. I enjoy classical music with my reading, but I admit Green Day and Linkin Park get me fired up in a good(ish) way.  
Yang: Won't Break Me from Remnant, Hit Me With Your Best Shot from Earth

**danders**  
For Ruby and Yang: What was life like on patch?

_HotterThanTheSun_  
Quaint, close-knit, isolated. People helped each other out, and we tried to be independent from the mainland. I guess like rural living here is the best way to describe it. But it's also kind of dangerous in a way that isn't, because oft the Grimm.

**jaskon**  
What do you miss the most about Remnant?

_RedLikeRoses_  
Fancy weapons

_TheRealWeissSchnee_  
My sister, Winter.

**maasic  
**What are some things you'd miss from Earth if you went back to Remnant?

_RedLikeRoses_  
YouTube, Kerbal Space Program, really big open country that isn't deadly, and airplanes.

_black_belladonnas_  
The variety of media and literature especially.

**Rt****hur**  
What does it feel like to use your aura and semblance?

_RedLikeRoses_  
Aura you can feel getting hit but it doesn't hurt. My semblancei s like a pulse of energy and then a rush of wind and moving when I go. It's all hard to describe even to other people on Remnant.

**rynn2012  
**Wiess: were you actually a musician on Remnant or was that something the show made up?

_TheRealWeissSchnee_  
I was never a professional musician. However, I was made to take singing lessons, and I did perform Mirror Mirror at a Schnee event.

**rynn2012**  
do you think you could sing for the internet some day?

_TheRealWeissSchnee_  
Actually, I already did. Search for "Let It Go from Frozen – AW Cover".

**answerkey**  
Do you have the Internet on Remnant?

_TheRealWeissSchnee_  
Sort of. We can access a distributed, connected repository of information and services. It doesn't really have the kind of personal stuff and communities the Internet has, though. It's mostly educational and informational stuff with some commercial interests. And it's not worldwide or connected the same- mostly stuff nearby and it gets slower as the distance to a target grows. According to a Terran I talked to, it's more like the early Internet in intent if much more modern technologically. His words, not mine.

**asdfubsads**  
What is the thing that surprises you most about how Terrans act (not about our technology or society)?

_RedLikeRoses_  
That you don't like it when we point our guns at you when you're on our side and we're in battle.

_black_belladonnas_  
The lengths you'll go to explain away things that you think are impossible. I thought we would be revealed many times, but others were more willing to make up their own excuses for us than realize who we really were.

_HotterThanTheSun_  
Definitely how many crazy and stupid things you do that you should know will kill you yet you do anyway.

**notasjw  
**Mostly for TheRealWeissSchnee, but also for black_belladonnas. Is the real Schnee Dust Company this immoral, illegal, and unethical?

_TheRealWeissSchnee_  
Yes and no. Business is done different on Remnant, and in Atlas especially. The Schnee Dust Company does not break any laws per se. Although prosperous, it's governed much like a third-world republic, and the Schnee Dust Company has close ties to the current dictator. So we influence the government to give us an advantageous position. As for the infamous labour practices, unfortunately there is no exaggeration. It's not a matter of race past the convenience of exploiting a group already disadvantaged.

**DRAGONS1111  
**Blake: Is it racist to automatically think you like Tuna even if it's true? Or that you dislike dogs?

_black_belladonnas_  
Yes.

**BlowUpx86**  
Top or bottom?

_RedLikeRoses_  
me: top  
weiss: top  
blake: bottom  
yang: never played league

**Aaakaasa**  
[comment score below threshold]

_black_belladonnas_  
Let's just say that some of the fan speculation about the books is correct.

**axme**  
For Blake: Radicalization of youth is becoming a major issue today, with people running off to join ISIS and all. As a former member of the White Fang, what would you say to people going through this process.

_black_belladonnas_  
Don't. It may seem alluring to fight for a cause you believe in, but the romanticism quickly wears off and you realize you've built a personal hell that makes everyone around you suffer. You're going to lose who you are pursuing a goal your not sure if you believe in anymore in the worst possible ways.

**ASSUMING_DIRECT_CONTROL**  
Mostly for Ruby, but I guess anyone. What's your favourite weapon (gun, plane, tank, ship, etc) from Earth's history?

_RedLikeRoses_  
This is soooo hard. But I like the mouse tank, battleships, and the warthog.

**RMAN  
**Yang: Are you, or are you not, the woman known as The Bride seen in Syria in late 2014?

**FuckYeahMalaysia  
**[comment removed]

**cyborgmessiah**  
Assuming a back to Remnant cannot be created anytime soon, what do you plan on doing with your life? What are your hopes, dreams, and goals now?

_RedLikeRoses_  
I became a huntress to help people and make the world a better place. I'm thinking I want to be police or military if they'll let me.

_TheRealWeissSchnee_  
I want to go into game development, but to be honest, that's more an impulsive direction than an actual dream. Understand that before all this, my life was planned out for me, and I never had the luxury or the burden of thinking about where I wanted to go. I know I don't want to do business, law, or politics.

_black_belladonnas_  
Honestly, there's a lot of uncertainty right now. I'd like to use what I've been through to make a positive change in the world, but that's basically a non-answer.

_HotterThanTheSun_  
I want to see the world. I don't know how I'm going to do it, but it'd be nice.


	42. The Future of RWBY

Another thing that wouldn't fit into the interludes. Adapted from a piece written for a related RP by RipOffProductions on Spacebattles.

Author: XCVG and RipOffProductions  
Canon: Unspecified  
Context: Convergence – Interlude 2  
Perspective: In-universe document

**Emergence: Aside  
****The Future of RWBY**

Hello everyone, especially those of you who have only discovered this site in the wake of recent events.

To be perfectly clear: no, Monty did not know Remnant was a real place when he started making RWBY, he only found out after Ruby contacted him to see if he knew how to get her back home, and sadly we don't. Trust me, if we did we would have given her a copy of all our scripts/notes/etc. and sent her back with express instructions to take it all to Ozpin and save the day with several years' worth of foreknowledge right then and there.

We all had a lengthy conversation about how to continue the show after that, if at all, and came to the conclusion that as long as RWBY being real remained a secret that we would continue making the show as we had always planned, if the truth never came out you'd all get a good story and that would be that, but now that's no longer the case. This wasn't an easy decision then and it's even harder now, but the bottom line is that we _want_ to continue if we can.

To be honest, I had been feeling apprehensive of Volume 3 ever since I found out team RWBY as real and here on Earth. A lot been planned to happen this volume from the beginning, some people were going to get seriously hurt, some people were even going to die. I do not like the idea of the girls sitting here on Earth feeling horrible worrying that those tragic events may still still happening back on Remnant without them being there to help and try to stop or prevent it.

Though now that JNPR is here, Cinder, Emerald, Mercury are dead, and Roman and Neo are in captivity, my worries have been shifted away from that. There are a lot of issues and concerns affecting the RWBY show that we now have to look at very carefully.

One of our big concerns is accuracy, as many people are now coming to this show looking to be educated about Remnant, and while the members of teams RWBY and JNPR have offered to assist us in making sure we don't put out any blatantly false information about their home, their knowledge of Remnant only goes so far, and there is a lot of information critical to the planned route of the series that they simply can not confirm one way or the other. For example, if this was happening before we released Volume 2 rather then Volume 3 the main thing we'd be discussing would be the reveal that Penny is a robot, that is something that fewer then 30 people on Remnant know about, but now it's public information here on Earth.

Another major concern is that we are now depicting real people. This was something we became uncomfortable with as soon as we found out that this was the case. We could rationalize that our versions are fictionalized and this wouldn't be the first time it's been done, and this is still the view a lot of us take now. Still, continuing on will see creepy to some and there are potential legal problems with showing real people and actual secrets so it really does complicate things.

We have a few options if we choose to continue the show. We can continue the show as it was planned from the start, rewrite it only using information teams RWBY and JNPR can confirm as true, or rewriting it and going completely off the rails and turning this story into something even the people of Remnant would call an outlandish fantasy.

Regardless of what path we chose to take, for now Volume 3 is on indefinite hold. We definitely want to keep making RWBY if we can, and we're going to try to find a way to do it, but there are a lot of things that we have to figure out before we can go on.


	43. Morning Juniper

The JNPR Aside you asked for... sort of. It's not cut content and I didn't really have plans to do this one like the others, but you asked and I delivered.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: Unspecified  
Context: Convergence – Interlude 2

* * *

**Emergence: Aside  
****Morning Juniper**

The early news was a regular morning ritual for many Vancouverites, watching the local station for updates on both local matters and global ones. Today, those that tuned in would be in for a surprise.

"We have some very special guests this morning," the newscaster announced after the conclusion of the all-important traffic report.

"I think there'll be people tuning in from all over the globe for this one, Steve," the woman beside him added. Her short stature was hidden by the large table in front of her.

"I think you're right. There have been rumours that some of these Remnans have been living right here in Vancouver. Not only were we able to confirm that, but we were also able to land an exclusive interview." He motioned to the four guests across from them. "Jaune Arc, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. Great to have you with us this morning."

Jaune waved awkwardly. "Yeah, it's great. I never thought I'd be on TV- I always wanted to be on TV."

Beside him, Pyrrha smiled politely, "Thank you for giving us the opportunity to be here."

"Good morning Vancouver!" Nora shouted. Ren buried his face in his head. The camera operator quickly cut away.

"So, forgetting the unfortunate events in Texas for a moment, what do you think of Earth so far?" the female host asked.

Jaune answered, "It's definitely different from Remnant, you know, but not as different as you'd think for being another planet. It was seriously weird when we got here, but we got used to it pretty quickly. I mean, I miss home, and there's a lot missing, and it smells pretty bad here, but there's a lot of really neat stuff on Earth."

"What kind of neat stuff?"

"I dunno, there's just lots of everything. I mean, there's like a thousand kinds of comic books. And you can get it so fast here over the internet."

"IHOP," Nora mentioned offscreen.

"You like the food here?"

"Some of it's pretty good, some of it is blargh," Nora answered.

"So, Jaune, you mentioned comic books. Do you have any favourites?"

"I dunno. They're kind of hard to get into, and I keep picking one up and reading it a bit and then forgetting it in the corner. But I liked the Marvel movies a lot."

"What about you?" She motioned to the others. "Do you have any favourite movies or are they all just plain odd to you?"

"Many of the details are confusing, but the themes are similar to those from our world," Pyrrha answered. "I don't believe I've seen enough to pick a favourite, though I did enjoy 300, Black Hawk Down, and Star Trek."

"Ruby's Transformers movies!" Nora exclaimed. "Boom! Smash! Michael Bay is awesome. Oh, and Ren likes Disney movies. Frozen made him cry."

"Nora..."

"Frozen made you cry?"

"It did, yes."

"It was a very emotional movie." The host continued. "What would you say is the strangest thing here versus at home?"

"I dunno. There's a lot of weird things." Jaune shrugged.

"I think the strangest thing is also the most obvious," Ren answered quietly. "Humanity has a drive to advance and to conquer, be that martially, politically, scientifically or otherwise. On our world, all these efforts are largely toward one end. But here, they find many outlets, some productive and some not."

The male newscaster asked them, "A lot of people are curious about your world, Remnant. We've heard about the Grimm, the Kingdoms, and the Hunters, but what's it really like to live there?"

Pyrrha answered before any of her teammates could embarrass them. "Inside the Kingdoms, life is much like it is on Earth. Perhaps it is a bit more dangerous, and a bit less free, but concerns for safety are not at the front of your mind. You just live your life. Outside the Kingdoms, though, it's a hard life and a constant battle for survival."

"Yeah, we live in the outskirts of the Kingdom," Jaune added. "It's definitely different out there."

"And what do you think of RWBY, the web series?"

"It's definitely more than a little weird to see, even though we know how it's theoretically possible," Jaune responded.

"I think it's a good way for Terrans to see our world or at least a glimpse of it that they wouldn't be able to see otherwise. However, it's important to keep in mind that it's not exactly factual and our world is both very similar and very different to what you see on screen."

He nodded. "Now, Pyrrha, you were a four time tournament champion, which is something not a lot of Terrans and I'm guessing not a lot of Remnans can say. How has that affected your outlook on life?"

Pyrrha almost answered with her practised answer before realizing that everyone already knew it was a facade and would see right through it. "You feel... above. Superior, yet separated. It's very easy to allow fame to lead to arrogance and isolation, be it imposed by others and by yourself. There's a term I've heard here that we don't use on Remnant: staying grounded. It's important to stay grounded, to have anchors in your life and not to hide who you really are. It's also important for everyone to realize that no matter how famous someone is, they're a person not much different from yourself."

"So, how do you do that? How do you stay grounded? And now that you're known to billions of people, how are you going to deal with that?" the woman asked.

"I think we're just going to keep going as a team, keep our friends close, and try to live our lives as normally as we can, being superpowered teenagers from another universe." Jaune laughed at his own rather flat joke.

"Maybe I'm overstepping a bit here, but a lot of people are asking when you two are going to get together." She was half-joking and did not expect the response she got.

Jaune shrugged. "Actually, we've been together for six months."

Pyrrha glared at him, opened her mouth to object, and decided against it.

The hosts beamed at them. "Wow, really? Good for you."

"Me and Ren are together-together now!" Nora announced. The audio man had adjusted the levels, so despite practically shouting she came across relatively quietly to viewers.

"Okay, one last question. If there's no way back, if you're stuck on Earth forever, what do you plan on doing with your lives?" the anchorman asked.

"I dunno." Jaune shrugged again. "I haven't really thought about it. Are mercenaries a thing on Earth?"

"Unfortunately, what I've trained for all my life doesn't really exist on Earth. However, I'd like to somehow make a positive change in the world," Pyrrha said carefully. "On Remnant, I used my fame to promote little more than an unhealthy cereal. I'm hoping I can use it to promote a worthy cause. I'm just not sure what that is yet."

"Me and Ren-Ren are going to buy an airplane and fly to Asia and then we're going to visit the lemurs on Madagascar and then we're going to go to Europe and solemnly absorb the history and then we're going to come back and that's all the plans I have for now."

Ren shrugged.

"Alright, well that's all the time we have for now," the newscaster said with a hint of reluctance in his voice. "Thank you for joining us this morning."


	44. The Plan

Back to Remnant to set up for Act 3. Some retconning you may or may not notice.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: Full  
Context: Convergence – Interlude 2

* * *

**Emergence: Aside  
****The Plan**

"I know you're playing both sides, James."

Ironwood stopped dead in his tracks. He knew the headmaster was suspicious and maybe even knew, but didn't expect to be called on it. Not yet, anyway. Finally, he answered. "I'm hedging my bets, Ozpin."

The headmaster turned around in his chair, fingers tented and expression neutral. "Oh? Becoming involved in a conspiracy that could undermine everything we've worked for is hedging one's bets?"

"It's not going to undermine it," Ironwood insisted. "If this works, we won't need them anymore. And if it doesn't, it's business as usual."

"So you think. Have you considered that there could be unforeseen consequences?" Ozpin sounded calm, but Ironwood could tell he was angry. "A loss of confidence in our leadership knowing they pursued fruitless goals and wasted valuable resources doing it could lead to disaster."

"I'm not going to dismiss it as impossible. But we could gain so much. True, permanent safety. Isn't that worth the risk?" He paused. "Your position is one granted by tradition, Ozpin. You're free to take credit and avoid blame. Some of us do not have that luxury. The people look to you for guidance but ultimately not for governance."

"Not all legends are true, James, and none fully. We both know that." Ozpin turned away. "You may seek your safe haven, but have you given any thought to the possibility that it's not as safe as you thought?"

"Yes," the general answered flatly. "That's why we have the fleet sitting out there."

The headmaster sighed. "I'm not going to tell you to stop, or to pick a side. Just... be careful."

"Always am, Oz," Ironwood said quietly as he left.

* * *

The Queen of Mantle surveyed what had once been promised as her Kingdom from her balcony on the palace that still belonged to the family. She grudgingly admitted that it had survived well, even prospered under Atlesian military rule. She even more grudgingly admitted that she had done fairly well, all things considered, and there were worse fates than being a figurehead. Still, she never forgot that Atlas should have been Mantle and was rightfully hers.

But soon none of it would matter anymore. Her plans were close, so close to fruition. The military-industrial junta of Atlas would soon be as distant a memory as the monarchy was today.

"So, how close are we?" a rough voice asked from behind her.

She wasn't sure who Qrow was really working for anymore, nor did it really matter. Ozpin loved chess metaphors, but the Queen preferred poker. They were all in, the cards were on the table, and they were all in. There was too much at stake for anyone to fold. "Close. Very close."

"I heard we're going to go ahead with the Atlas target," he mentioned. "Even though the facility's gone."

"It's promising, and our forces are lined up to take it. We'll have to use one of the offshore platforms. I doubt the oceanic targets would prove fruitful anyway, so having two instead of three is an acceptable tradeoff."

"The Vale site is still our main focus?"

She nodded. "The preliminary readings were good, and both our own forces and Vale's are in position to secure the site. They can handle the Grimm and whatever's on the other side."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Minimal Aura readings, no detectable Dust usage. We think there are humans on the other side, but they'll be primitive, pre-industrial at best."

"So, offshore to the Atlas target, Vale as planned. That leaves two more offshore-"

"Open ocean," she interrupted. "I've decided against the coastal targets."

"Good choice. We lost one of the wilderness sites to the Grimm. Are we still going to use the other one?"

"Maybe. It'll be the desert target if we do. I don't want to introduce the Grimm to the world, but if we can get some of the people living out there on board, it'll be a viable settlement."

"What about the secondary sites? You really think Vacuo and Mistral are going to go along with this?"

"They'll see the opportunity in front of them and take it. Maybe not right away. But sooner or later, they'll do it."

Qrow stepped forward, leaning on the balcony beside the queen. "You really think this is going to work?"

She nodded. "The technical problems are all solved- I'm sorry about that, by the way- and everything is in position. I'm amazed myself. I thought we'd have to scale back. Maybe fate really is on our side."

Qrow raised his flask. "For the future, your highness."

"For the future."


	45. Tomorrow

This almost made it into a normal chapter, but I decided to split it off at the last minute.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: Full  
Context: Convergence Part 3

* * *

**Emergence: Aside  
****Tomorrow**

It was an open secret that the Queen of Atlas and the Chancellor of Atlas did not like each other in the slightest. They were rivals in a way for obvious reasons, and there was a fair bit of bitterness between them because of it. The Queen saw the Chancellor as representing everything that had gone wrong with the nation that should have been hers. The Chancellor saw the Queen as an irritating relic of a time gone by. Their interactions, necessary for official reasons, generally stayed formal and cold, with a fair bit of quiet verbal duelling.

They had come together for another formal event, this one the kicking off of a large military exercise. The reception afterwards and chance meeting on the balcony of the old palace was, expectantly, a cold one.

"The people need to know that we can still protect them, even with half our forces in Vale," the Chancellor proclaimed, motioning with his glass of expensive champagne. "That we are strong enough to assist our allies and hold our own ground. Once, we were the weak Kingdom that needed help. Now the tables have turned."

The Palace had an excellent view of the Kingdom, having been originally constructed as a heavily defended fortress and added onto over the centuries. Visible in the moonlight were the bright lights of Atlas. The wilderness that was de jure part of the Kingdom but really belonged to no one could barely be made out past the limits of the city-state. Atlas itself, the academy that had usurped the government years ago, stood out near the western edge. Above them, dozens of warships- mostly older classes, with the latest and greatest in Vale- hovered, ready to defend the Kingdom at a moment's notice.

The Queen shot back, "Military strength is an important measure, but not the only measure of a Kingdom's worth. It is ultimately the welfare of the people that matters. Everything else is simply a means to an end."

"We lead the world militarily, economically, and technologically," he countered calmly. "If that is not an end then certainly it is the means."

"Not so long ago, a few people decided that security through technology and control was a goal to be pursued at all costs. Afterwards came one of the darkest eras of our history, where culture, art, music, and the very colour of life was suppressed." the Queen cautioned. "Yet here we stand, ignoring those facets of society in favour of building a military powerhouse. I do wonder if we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past."

The Chancellor answered, "They believed that humanity could be turned into a machine with a singular purpose, to the exclusion of all else. Their intentions were noble, but they did not understand that the same nature of humanity that allowed it to survive would make their efforts futile. We are not so naive."

She arched an eyebrow. "Are we?"

"Do not confuse the ambition of Atlas for the hubris of the past." He raised his glass. "For the future, your highness."

"For the future, Chancellor." The Queen clinked glasses, smirking inwardly. _The future begins tomorrow._


	46. A Chance Discovery

It ties into the main story, but I guess this could also be viewed as a deconstruction of the fics where the protagonists see the portal and immediately jump in.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: Full  
Context: Convergence Part 3

**Emergence: Aside  
****A Chance Discovery**

Like many recent high school graduates, Raechel and her friends took advantage of the warm summer weather to get outside and get active. They'd driven out of town past the town of Chilliwack before parking and taking to the trails. After a day of hiking, they'd spent a night under the stars before getting up and going again.

"Is that just me or does the sky look a little weird?" Darrel asked as they made their way along a now badly overgrown logging road.

"It's cause we're under the trees, man," Scott told him. "The sky always looks a bit weird under the canopy. It's how forests work, which is something you would know if you didn't spend all day every day playing Hearthstone."

He shrugged, accepting the answer at face value. "Alright."

"We should be coming up to the lake now," Raechel informed them.

"Calling it a lake is generous," Parva grumbled from the back of the group.

"Come on, you'll love it," Raechel encouraged, climbing up a slight rise to the edge of the trees.

What they expected to see was a barren, brown area that had probably been logged flat in the past. What they saw was something they'd never expected to see before.

Whatever it was nearly defied description. In front of them, the natural green forest disappeared, replaced by a blurry image of stark red. One might call it a mirage or a reflection in a pool of water if they were grasping at words to describe it. It appeared to be slightly curved, though it could have been an illusion. The anomaly extended to the left, to the right, and upward as far as the eye could see.

"What the fuck is that?" Scott blurted out.

"I don't know." Raechel dropped her pack and hesitantly moved closer. She could see through it better as she got closer, and could make out trees with deep red foliage on the other side from the edge of the clearing. She wanted to reach out and touch it. Fifty paces away, she got cold feet. Instead, she picked up a rock and tossed it at the thing. It passed through, landing on the red ground on the other side with a faint thump.

"Man, fuck this," Darrel said nervously. "Let's get the hell out of here. I got video and I don't wanna stick around to get more."

"We should call the cops or something," Parva said. "That is _not_ natural."

"Yeah," Raechel agreed quietly, stepped back a few paces.

Silently, the group picked up their bags and left, at a noticeably quicker pace than they'd arrived. When they reached their cars, they packed and left, exceeding the speed limit on the narrow country road despite normally being cautious drivers. Closer to civilization where there was cell service, Darrel uploaded his video to social media and Parva called the police. Within hours, the area was cordoned off and known to half the world.


	47. From The Other Side

Spun off from the previous chapter because of length, then extended. Largely a collection of snippets that go with the chapter.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: Full  
Context: Convergence Part 3/Chapter 24

* * *

**Emergence: Aside  
****From The Other Side**

There were many newsworthy events in Vale, and VNN prided themselves on being able to get the scoop early and be the first to broadcast them to the people of the Kingdom. Today was no different, except for the one massive occurrence that overshadowed everything else. A twelve-car pileup had shut down one of the central roadways of the city and a hostage situation possibly involving the White Fang was developing in the warehouse district, but they barely got any mention. The portal and the message sent by the Earthers was the hot topic.

"This is Lisa Lavender with a special report on the developing situation. Professor Lapis, an expert on legends from Vale University, is here with us at the station." Lisa turned to the man beside her, the camera zooming out with the movement. "Professor, Earth is nothing but a legend to us, and now it seems as if it is really there on the other side of that anomaly coming to life. Many of our viewers may only be familiar with the legends in passing. Could you explain it briefly?"

Dr. Lapis, a middle-aged man with half-moon glasses and deep blue hair, nodded. He answered, "Of course, Lisa. Earth is not a legend in and of itself but rather a setting of many legends. It is a primitive place that can work metal but has no knowledge of Dust or Aura. It is a peaceful place without the threat of the Grimm, without hunters and with few warriors. Still, it is not without strife, and often very backwards socially even considering its level of development."

"So, Earth would be a very backward place compared to us, then?"

He skirted the question. "Well, you know, it's not fair to call it a bad place. Remember, what we know or think we know is from stories, so things are often exaggerated or romanticized. These stories change over the years, as well, and the Earth we think we know has no doubt been shaped to fit the stories told within it. There are even tales- perhaps on the fringe- that this is the world where humanity came from and ones that this is where civilization first sprung forth."

"Interesting. I think a big question on a lot of people's minds is, are they a threat to us? What would you say about that?"

"The legends describe a peaceful world and a primitive one." He paused "But I study legends, not civilizations. This should not be taken as a judgement on the Earthers themselves. I did speak to a colleague of mine, a historian and anthropologist, and he told me that we really have no idea what the Earthers could be like. Our assumptions are based on legends thousands of years old, and they could have developed many ways since then."

"Well, they did contact us over radio, which would imply a certain level of development, would it not?"

He nodded deeply. "Exactly, Lisa. I think it's foolish, even dangerous, to assume the Earthers are primitive people. They may be absolutely defenseless and in need of protection, or they could wield world-ending weapons, though personally I find that _very_ farfetched."

"And I know this is not your field exactly, but what do you think they want from us, Professor?"

"Honestly, I'd be surprised if they wanted anything but peace. No doubt they view us with as much suspicion and uncertainty as we view them," he answered carefully. "But I'd like to stress that I could be wrong. I know the legends of Earth, but these are _legends_ and nothing more. It will be very easy to make false assumptions with potentially disasterous results."

"Thank you very much, Professor. I know this is not what you came here to talk about and we did put you on the spot a bit, but I think we've _all _been put on the spot a bit." Lisa turned to the camera. "We'll have more on the mysterious Earthers after the break."

* * *

"Commander on deck!" the first officer of the Atlesian airship _Spirit of Atlas_ snapped as his superior stepped onto the bridge.

"As you were," Colonel Braun ordered before heading to a dimly-lit station near the back of the bridge.

"Yes, sir," the first officer acknowledged.

"Lieutenant, you had something for me?" he asked the radar operator. "Spurious course tracks?"

"Yes, sir. I thought these were anomalous readings related to the portal, but look at this." She pointed to the lines on her display, her finger circling one in particular. "These are reconstructed course tracks- the readings are weak and they blip in and out. One big, slow- relatively speaking- contact. It comes in and flies around for a while. Maybe a transport-"

"Or a bomber," the Colonel growled.

"Yes, sir, that is a possibility," she acknowledged before continuing. "Two smaller faster ones come through about ten minutes later. They meet up with the big one here, over Forever Fall." She pointed. "Then one breaks off, heads back toward the portal-"

"Portal, Lieutenant?"

"I know it's technically just an anomaly at this point, but everyone's been calling it a portal. The Earthers talk about it like it's one, and looking at this, well, it seems like some kind of portal to me." She continued, "Anyway, sir, this one breaks off, heads back, and disappears. Like it's testing the waters. Then the other little on and the big one turn and head back and boom, they're gone. Scouts, maybe, or a transport that wandered in, but those were definitely some kind of aircraft."

He scrutinized the numbers beside the tracks. "These speeds and altitudes are correct?"

"If these are aircraft and not spurious readings, yes sir."

He read them, and then read them again. "A few hundred faster than sound and ten thousand yards above livable conditions?"

"Yes, sir, that's why I dismissed these as an anomaly at first. But reviewing the data... well, it's just not random enough. There were definitely aircraft there, sir." She paused, flipping screens to a different with tracks that were still updating. "This is what it looks like now. You can see they're really weak readings, but this only started up again about half an hour ago. If it's an anomaly, it's a cyclical one, but to me it looks like they went home- maybe to refuel- and came back. And that looks an awful lot like a patrol pattern, sir."

"If this is real, that means the Earthers are nowhere near the pushovers we were expecting." The Colonel considered it for a moment, chewing his lip. "I need to kick this upstairs. Good job, Lieutenant."

* * *

"Are you sure about this, Sun?" Neptune asked from the balcony, reaching up and grasping his friend's hand. "I mean, they were pretty firm about staying in our rooms and not making a scene."

"Come on, man, we're gonna see history get made!" Sun encouraged as he pulled the blue-haired boy up to the rooftop. "See? We're gonna see everything from up here!"

"Yeah, but do we have to do it from _up here_?" Neptune protested. The vantage point gave them an excellent view of the landing pads and the forest beyond, far enough away that they wouldn't be noticed but not so far away that they wouldn't be able to see anything. They had a clear line of sight and the weather was good, sunny but not too sunny and entirely without fog. On the other hand, they were pretty high up.

"Best seats in the house!" Sun exclaimed. Seeing a shape appear over the woods, he pointed. "Look, the Bullheads are coming over the... those are _not_ Bullheads."

"You think those are the Earthers?" Neptune asked.

"Uh, have you ever seen any flying machine that looks like that?" Indeed, the machine was decidedly odd. It was a black aircraft that might have been described as sleek except for the massive spinning rotor atop its fuselage. A smaller one was attached to the short tail, and not a wing was in sight. A pair of engines were visible just below the rotor. It made a whapping sound wholly unlike the characteristic whine of a Bullhead.

"No." Three more of the machines banked into view, flanked by a pair of similar looking but smaller ones that banked away to either side. Above them, an escort of Atlesian dropships roared by.

"Salutations, Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasilias!" an almost unnaturally cheerful voice interrupted. A girl with green eyes, orange hair, and an odd green-trimmed outfit stalked mechanically toward them. "May I sit here and observe the arrival of the Earthers with you?"

Neptune exchanged glances with Sun, who shrugged in response. "Sure, why not?"

"Excellent!" Seeing a space between the two, the girl sat down between them, dropping down heavily on the stone edging.

"Penny, right?" Neptune asked. "You're not from Vale; are you here for the tournament?"

"That's right! I'm combat ready!" Penny answered energetically.

"Hey, look, they're getting out." Sun pointed. "That's Qrow, and that's Taiyang. I don't recognize the woman though."

"Is that friend Ruby?" Penny asked.

"I... yeah, maybe," Neptune replied, squinting at them. "Hey, that looks like Yang."

"That woman looks like an older Ruby," Sun mentioned. "Do you think that's her mom?"

"Impossible," Penny told them. "Summer Rose was killed on a mission ten years ago. But... that looks an awful lot like friend Ruby. And she was declared dead last year."

"That's definitely them," Sun said. "And look, that's Weiss and Blake coming out of the one in the back. These _are_ the Earthers, right?"

"Yeah, I mean, look at that machine, man," Neptune responded. "And look at the military guys. I've never seen those uniforms before."

"Those uniforms do not match any military or paramilitary force on Remnant," Penny told them. "The flags on their shoulders do not match any known Kingdom."

"Did anyone ever tell you you have really good eyesight?" Sun quipped.

"You think they found a gate to the underworld or something?" Neptune asked nervously. "I mean, that's kind of ridiculous, but so is the whole Earth thing."

"Hey, they never found any bodies," Sun suggested. "Maybe they ended up on Earth somehow. Maybe a lot of missing Hunters that we thought were dead never actually died. We just said they're dead because we couldn't find them because-"

"Excuse me," a young female voice interrupted. A dark-skinned girl wearing a blue hat and skirt matching her eyes strode toward them.

"Hey."

"Penny, you should not be in this location," the girl said to Penny, ignoring the other two. "There is an important meeting we must attend."

"Uh, who are you?" Sun interrupted.

"Ciel Soleil, Atlas Academy." She checked her watch again. "We must be on our way now."

"Okay," Penny answered. She stood up and turned to the two boys. "Bye now!"

Neptune managed an awkward wave. "See ya."

"Could this day get any weirder?"

"Is that Team JNPR?"

* * *

From where she stood, the palace balcony offered an excellent view of the outskirts of Atlas. The Queen was not, however, staring at the fields that skirted the edge of Atlas. She was imaging a portal, very much like the one outside of Vale, in place away from but not too far away from Atlas. Soon. She just had to give the word, and it would be done.

"You seem troubled, Your Highness, even more so than usual- if such a thing is possible," the Chancellor interrupted, starting the verbal fencing match as he emerged onto the balcony. He allowed, "But, perhaps I am being too judgemental. It has been a trying day for us all."

"A trying day indeed, Chancellor," the Queen echoed. "Will you take action, or leave Vale to handle it on their own, risk and reward?"

"We do not know where the portals have come from. Certainly we were not responsible, and the other Kingdoms have given no indication. The Earthers were prepared with a message of their own. Perhaps they were the ones to open them, with hostile intentions in mind."

"It's a definite possibility. But I have a hard time believing they would pose a serious threat," the Queen told him.

"As do I. They have discovered radio; but so did we over a century ago. I doubt that they would be able to handle a real war if they've never known the threat of the Grimm." His thoughts echoed the Queen's own. "But in this world, we must always practise caution."

"Come now, Chancellor, surely you see the opportunity here?" the Queen said with a smirk. "We are the guardians of the world... and the vanguard of the new one."

"I am not a warhawk, Your Highness. The time for that is long past. We benefit more from this period of peace than anyone else."

"If that portal had opened outside of Atlas, and one of your generals was in charge, would you not invade it? You could have your cake and eat it too, if you pardon my use of a vulgar expression. Start the war you've always wanted while remaining the protector of the world."

"It's true that I want to exhibit the prowess of my Kingdom. That's hardly something worth denying. But I don't need a war to do that. Supporting our allies against our common foes as we have done accomplishes that goal with far less bloodshed. I understand how you see this, but I do not have the luxury of seeing it the same way." He paused in carefully controlled calculated consideration. "I am not a fool. I will do what is necessary to safeguard the Kingdom, no more and no less."

"Even if you knew victory was assured?" the Queen pressed. "Even if we could gain a new world of resources, a haven safe from the Grimm for our people?"

"Vale is not Atlas, Your Highness. We only have so much influence," he replied, turning to leave. "If Vale wants peace, give them peace. We stand to gain as much as they do."

"Indeed." The Queen reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her Scroll, a highly ornate and totally unique model. Using it, she sent a simple message meaningless to anyone but its intended recipient.

_Let tomorrow begin._


	48. A lot like, a lot unlike

Removed from the chapter because it didn't flow well.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: Full  
Context: Convergence Part 3/Chapter 24

**Emergence: Aside  
****A lot like, a lot unlike**

Arvin Laguna, leader of Team AAZR (Azure), circled the helicopter with amazement. Sure, the machine was crude and ugly compared to what they built, but that only made it more fascinating. He was pretty sure the giant rotor on top was what generated the lift that allowed the machine to fly. He paused as the one in front of them - carrying Qrow, Rose, and all the important people- spun up its rotor and leapt into the air. It was definitely the rotor. But what was the little one in the back for? Some kind of compensation? "So this is how Terrans fly, huh?"

"It's one way," a vaguely familiar voice told him.

He turned to the white-haired girl striding up beside him. Though he didn't hate the Schnees, he wasn't exactly a fan of them, either. He could stay civil, if not friendly. "How long did you spend on Earth."

"Eleven months, eighteen days." She paused. "It's not the only way Terrans fly. They have airplanes, too. Big things, airship sized, that use wings exclusively for lift. Pretty impressive when they run up and take off."

"Like that thing over there?" He pointed to a short, fat aircraft with straight wings and four propellers spinning up at the opposite end of the airport.

"That one's a piece of junk, but yes."

"What was it like?"

"Uncomfortable compared to an airship, but a lot faster. A bit of a thrill when it takes off."

"No, I mean, living on Earth," Arvin corrected, though he was pretty sure the guarded heiress had in fact interpreted his question correctly and chosen not to answer. "This world, you've experienced it firsthand. What was that like?"

She paused before answering. "Honestly? I could go into every little minute detail. But it's a lot like Remnant, and a lot unlike it. You start to get comfortable, start to realize that it's just like home. Until you see something that Terrans take for granted that shocks you as completely alien."

"Hey, Arvin, are you coming or not?" Zelda Steele called from inside the vehicle, shouting over a sudden high-pitched whine that it started emitting.

Weiss turned to leave, but paused and turned back. "I'm in the last chopper. See you on the other side."


	49. Scouting out the other side

I'd like to apologize for the massive delays in bringing some of these Asides to FFn. I'm going to be honest- I thought I already did. Only when someone mentioned the situation over on the SpaceBattles thread did I realize that these were so far behind.

I didn't like this part, so it was cut. Some of it ended up recycled.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: No  
Context: Convergence Part 3/Chapter 25

**Emergence: Aside  
****Scouting out the other side**

Sitting at the controls of the Atlesian dropship, Major Lili Rook was in her element. When she was a kid, most of her schoolmates had dreamed of becoming hunters or joining the ranks of the Atlesian military as Specialists. She had a different dream. She wanted to fly. Instead of going into a preparatory combat academy, she went into flight school, starting at the age of 14. When she hit seventeen, she headed to Atlas academy not to train as a hunter but to train as a military pilot. It wasn't quite as illustrious, but she'd seen plenty of action. From a few thousand feet up, of course.

Today Lili was leading a flight of five of the scorpion-like dropships on a critically important mission. They knew precious little about the world on the other side, but it was her job to change that. Aboard the dropships was a hand-picked team of soldiers, specialists, and scientists.

She announced over the comm link, "Preparing to enter the portal."

A stern voice replied, "Copy that. Good luck out there."

"Think he ever smiles, Lils?" her copilot quipped, referring to their superior officer aboard the airship they'd launched from.

"Nope." She pulled the dropship into a gentle bank, angling toward the portal. "Here goes nothing."

There was a slight thump that reverberated through the dropship as they crossed the event horizon. The rugged terrain of Atlas disappeared, replaced by a mix of forest and field. Large buildings were visible in the distance, and they zipped over a highway and a few scattered houses.

"Getting a lot of interference from the portal in all bands," her copilot announced, examining the readouts on his screen. A hurriedly built radio receiver had been installed in the tail of the aircraft, designed to intercept Terran radio signals. They'd expected to see a few channels of signals, not the deluge of urban noise and military radar. "Either that or this thing doesn't work."

Lili's eyes flicked to her own screen, which displayed a summary of the data. "Or maybe it _is_ that busy here." She scanned the terrain ahead of them. "That's a city over there."

"We should take a look." Colonel Finlay said, entering the cockpit. A soldier distinguished by dedication, fighting prowess, and skilled politicking, he'd been picked by the Chancellor himself to lead the expedition.

Lili edged the control stick over hesitantly. "Sir, if a flight of unidentified aircraft flew over Atlas, what would happen to them?"

"Well, first they'd-"

"Atlesian aircraft, you are entering controlled airspace," a stiff voice called through their communications system. "State your intentions immediately or you will be fired upon."

"That's on our comm band," her copilot told her.

A pair of strange aircraft, sleek and pointy with a single canted fin and mouth-like intake underneath, descended out of the sky and pulled into formation ahead of them. Lili glanced behind them and saw another pair trailing their formation. The Earth aircraft were boxing them in, not in a terribly effective way but in one that got the message across. They looked mean, too, with missiles visible under the wings.

"We are a scouting force tasked to explore the new world. Request permission to continue toward the city," Colonel Finlay replied. He told the flight crew, "It's worth a shot."

"Negative, Atlesian," came the reply. "Hold here and wait for further instructions."

"Do what he says, we don't want to start a war." Finlay ordered. "I guess the rumours were true, then."

"Rumours, sir?" Lili asked. She eased the throttles back, pulling the aircraft gently into a hover.

"Just before we left, I heard a report from Vale. The Earthers brought a ton of firepower against the Grimm, then flew to Beacon on their own airships. Not only do they have radio, but they're at least our technological equals."

"And you didn't inform us, sir?"

"I didn't think it was true, Major," he replied regretfully. "I guess we know now."


	50. The Beginning of Tomorrow

Moved from chapter 25 to an Aside for flow and length.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: Full  
Context: Convergence Part 3/Chapter 25

**Emergence: Aside  
****The Beginning of Tomorrow**

"Yob tvoyu maht!"

In a blasted field halfway between Donetsk and Horlivka, a rebel fighter surveyed the scene before him with a mix of curiosity and disbelief. He'd seen some very strange things indeed in the war-torn country, but this was by far the strangest. It was not shocking or horrifying so much as unbelievably odd. When he'd heard of a strange anomaly from a local farmer, he'd assumed it was a Ukrainian trap, not... this.

A barrier or wall, shimmering slightly, stretched across the field and as high up as the eye could see. It was partially transparent, and he could make out land on the other side- if that was what it was. What was on the other side appeared to be a marsh or a swamp, though it was very difficult to make out. It certainly looked wet to the fighter's eyes. They'd glimpsed the other side of the barrier on their way in, and it looked like a mirror that bisected the field, not showing another world.

He'd heard rumours of a portal to another world on the other side of the world, but dismissed them. Information was scarce, and it was too incredible to believe. Although, so had the story of the people from Remnant who had caused and stopped a terrorist attack in the United States. But that had scarcely seemed real in his war-torn world as well. Perhaps there really was a world on the other side.

This was far too complex for him or his squad to deal with. He would inform his superiors, and they would make the decisions.

* * *

"What the hell?"

The captain of the Japan Airlines 777 pulled his aircraft into a steep bank, away from the obstacle that had appeared in front of him. He had been trained to avoid controlled flights into terrain- crashing into the ground. He had also been trained to avoid flying into other aircraft. This situation was neither.

Though it was an extremely strange phenomenon, he was fairly sure about what he had almost flown into. He'd heard the story about the British Airways flight that had strayed through and seen a few pictures before leaving Narita. The mirrored, shimmering wall in front of him was very much like it. He didn't get a good view of the ground from twenty thousand feet up, nor could he see the top of the anomaly.

He radioed in the discovery to Tokyo control, and not only because he was deviating from his intended course. If this was a portal like the one in Vancouver, they would need to scramble the Self-Defense Force immediately, before monsters emerged and threatened the millions of people nearby.

* * *

"Allahu akhbar!"

The farmer could do nothing but invoke the name of God as he surveyed the unearthly oddity before him. He was used to disruption and he was used to strange happenings. The war had turned his life upside down. He was a simple farmer by his own admission, but his children lived in the city and had promising futures. Now his son was dead and the last he had heard of his daughter she was in a refugee camp somewhere in Turkey.

The thing, whatever it was, stretched across his field and the two neighbouring ones. It appeared partially mirrored and shimmering slightly, with what looked like a lush green forest visible on the other side. A keen observer might point out its similarity to the portal in Vancouver, but the farmer had never heard of it and had no idea of the events of the previous day.

He did nothing- he did not know what to do. A truck full of fighters rolled past on the road, the men pointing at the strange wall and shouting. They would do what would need to be done. He would simply make himself scarce.

* * *

"What the fuck?"

The woman stared out her window in disbelief. She was self-employed, working on contract as a web developer while her fiancee was at work. Like any normal weekday, she was sitting behind her workstation hammering out code. The large window beside her desk offered an excellent view of suburban Maryland but it wasn't quite right at the moment.

A shimmering, semi-mirrored plane cut across the green hills. Visible through it was terrain that looked similar to the familiar countryside, but more open, without the view of the nation's capital in the distance. She returned to her desk and quickly Googled for images of the Vancouver portal. It was eerily similar, terrifyingly similar.

She ran outside brought her dogs in, shutting the door tight behind them even though the wooden walls of her home would be worthless against anything that came out of that portal and she knew it. It was still a natural reaction. She had an old shotgun which she pulled from its safe and loaded, though she knew that wouldn't be of any use either.

There was a hotline for Remnant-related reports, but she wasn't aware of it. She fell back on the usual response- call 911. If the cops couldn't deal with it, they'd kick it upstairs to someone who could.


	51. A very awkward conversation indeed

There are conversations that must be had, but not now. Cut from Convergence and pushed a few arcs into The Remnan Exchange.

* * *

Author: XCVG  
Canon: No  
Context: Convergence Part 3/Chapter 25

**Emergence: Aside  
****A very awkward conversation indeed**

The crimson-haired woman entered the room slowly and carefully. She wore digital camouflage with a rifle loosely slung over her shoulder, though she was not military. The steady clacking of gears echoed from above, evoking cloudy memories in her mind.

"This feels familiar," Rose finally commented.

"It should," Ozpin told her. "You have been here many times, for many reasons."

"I suppose you want to know about my time on Earth," Rose said, sitting down across from the Headmaster. She leaned back casually in the chair. It was probably disrespectful as hell, but this was far from the first time she'd done it.

"In time," he deflected. "How much do you remember from your time as a Huntress?"

She answered. "Sweet fuck all."

"I see that Earth has only sharpened your tongue," Ozpin commented. "Then you should know that you were not only a Huntress. You were one of the best before your untimely- alleged- demise."

"Huh. So that's what Ruby was spouting off about," Rose mentioned. "I'm going to be perfectly honest, every kid thinks they're mom is a hero, especially ones like her. I didn't put much stock in that."

"She was not exaggerating," he confirmed. "Do you know what they say about those with silver eyes?"

"They slay vampires?" Seeing the look on Ozpin's face, she backpedalled. "No?"

"A very long time ago, it was said that those born with silver eyes were destined to lead the lives of a warrior," he explained. "It was said that the Creatures of Grimm, the most fearsome monsters humanity has ever encountered, were afraid of those warriors. That even a single look could strike a Grimm down."

"Bullshit. That's just a legend," Rose replied. She recognized the story as something familiar, and knew they'd had a very similar conversation before as well.

Ozpin sighed before pointing out, "So was Earth until today. Most believe the same about the Maidens."

"The Maidens... what are those again?"

After an awkward pause, Ozpin said, "You really don't remember much, do you?"

"Nope," she replied. "I don't know. I can't just remember stuff, with exceptions here and there. Bubbles will pop up. But I can recognize things fairly well. I recognized Ruby and Yang as my daughters as soon as I saw their pictures. I know I've been here in this office before. And I know we've had this conversation before."

"I see." Ozpin adjusted his glasses. "Then I suppose we will have to start again from the very beginning."

"What, are you reading me into your super secret death cult conspiracy."

"Rose, please take this seriously," Ozpin admonished. "Though as much as I hesitate to admit it, your joke is closer to the truth than you may think."

"Do you believe in magic?"

"No."

"Then this will be a very awkward conversation indeed."


	52. Debriefing Team JNPR

Cut from Convergence Chapter 25. It didn't flow well and I didn't like the specifics of this section. Not sure if I want it to be fully canon or not.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: Unspecified  
Context: Convergence Part 3/Chapter 25

* * *

**Emergence: Aside  
****Debriefing Team JNPR**

"Thank you for coming in," Ozpin said to his two guests. It was, of course, a formality. As students of Beacon- technically they were full Hunters but that would soon be rectified- they would have to show or face punishment. "Please, sit."

Jaune Arc gulped nervously as he took his seat, eyes flicking between his partner, the grey-haired man behind the desk, and the ragged-looking huntsman leaning casually against the wall.

"Okay, first things first," Qrow told them, stepping away from the wall. "Everything said in this room stays in this room. Don't talk about it with your friends, your teammates, even with each other. Clear?"

"Uh... okay," Jaune replied nervously.

"While Qrow's warning is perhaps more dire than necessary, it would be best if you kept our conversation discreet," Ozpin cautioned more gently. "If anyone asks, we wanted to know about Earth, of course."

"What would you like to know, Headmaster?" Pyrrha asked.

Jaune blurted out, "You mean you don't want to know about Earth?"

"Well, we certainly do, but all in due time," the Headmaster answered. "But at this moment, no. We are more concerned with your last moments on Remnant. These portals are not a natural event, and we must get to the bottom of what has happened."

"Okay," Jaune replied, a little more confidently. "So, uh, what do you want to know?"

"You disappeared somewhere outside Atlas," Ozpin stated. "Not officially, but I have my sources. Clearly you were looking for something. Perhaps you found it."

"It was a breeding facility," Jaune answered. He took a deep breath. "That was what they called it, anyway. But they weren't breeding animals."

"Grimm?" Qrow asked.

"No," Pyrrha answered. "It had something to do with Dust. There were huge amounts of Dust in the facility- it might have been where the stolen Dust was going. It might have had something to do with Project Activation, and Spectral Dust. I don't know what either of those are."

"Spectral Dust," Ozpin echoed. "That is potentially troubling."

"Why? What's Spectral Dust?"

"An extremely rare and extremely powerful form of Dust," Ozpin explained briefly. "It is more legend than fact. But it could explain what we have seen."

"What about the machines, Pyrrha?" Jaune asked.

"Oh, yes. There was a room with several large machines. They were emitting very strong magnetic fields. I don't know what they did, but I could draw them for you."

Ozpin reached over his desk and handed her a sheet of paper and a pencil. "Please, go ahead."

Pyrrha silently sketched out what she had seen. It was months ago, but her memories of that room were still relatively sharp. She drew a flat cylinder with larger ones above and below, then added a square ring around the whole machine. There were many things connected to it, but she only drew a control panel and large arm protruding from the middle cylinder. Silently, she handed it back.

The Headmaster examined the drawing. "Interesting."

"Do you have any idea what it is?" Pyrrha asked.

"No. Not yet, at least." Ozpin folded the drawing and tucked it into his jacket. "What happened at this facility, exactly? I am assuming you entered but did not leave."

"Yeah," Jaune answered. "We went in looking for answered, we broke the weird machines and a few other things, and then there was a fight. I think Torchwick and Cinder Fall were there-"

"Both of them?" Qrow asked.

"Yes," Pyrrha answered. "There was a fight. We were losing. Then something went wrong- I remember an explosion- and the next thing we knew we were on Earth."

"Could have ended a lot worse," Qrow growled. "That was risky."

"We had to do it," Jaune told him.

"I don't mean to imply your abilities are lacking, but you must have had help. You had to have acquired this intelligence somewhere, and Atlas is a long way away." Ozpin tented his fingers. "Who was it? They may be invaluable in getting to the bottom of this."

Jaune answered quickly, "Oh, it was Winter."

"Winter Schnee?" Qrow asked.

"Yeah, that's right."

"That girl's trouble in the making. She's gonna get her ass kicked someday," Qrow growled.

"Qrow," Ozpin warned. He turned to his two guests. "Thank you. You may return to your room now."

"Living on Earth could not have been easy," the Headmaster said. "I will allow you to recuperate for the time being. Let me know if you need anything."


	53. Watergate

This was originally planned to be a full arc, but cut down heavily to a short Aside. That also means I didn't do exhaustive research so the procedures here are probably far from perfect.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: Full  
Context: The Remnan Exchange, September 2015

* * *

**Emergence: Aside  
****Watergate**

_USS Farragut DDG-99  
North Atlantic Ocean_

Off the course of Florida, a haze grey warship cut its way smoothly through the waves. The sea around it was calm with only the slightest bit of chop and sparkled brightly in the midday sun. The _Farragut_ was an _Arleigh Burke-class_ guided missile destroyer, designed primarily to kill aerial threats but also with a robust anti-submarine capability, though its anti-surface capability was limited.

"So, XO, what's your opinion on this supposed disturbance?" Captain Adrian Barnett said, standing on the bridge of the _Farragut_.

Commander Jerry Banks answered quickly, "It's the Bermuda Triangle, sir, we've been hearing all kinds of shit about it for fifty years."

"It could be for real this time," Barnett mentioned. "It wouldn't be the craziest thing that's happened in the past few months."

"That is true, sir."

The Captain nodded. "Let's treat this like it's real, Jerry. If nothing else it'll be good practice for the crew. And if it _is_ real, we'll be ready."

He couldn't argue with that. "Aye, sir."

The captain stepped away from his executive officer. He reached up and grabbed a phone from its cradle. "TAO, bridge, anything on radar?"

"Bridge, TAO. We're picking up a possible surface contact, but something is scrambling our sensors. This could be the supposed distortion, sir."

"Copy that, TAO." He replaced the phone before ordering, "Helm, all ahead full, come to course one-five zero, right standard rudder."

"All ahead full, come right to course one-five-zero, aye."

The Captain hesitated for a moment before adding, "Sound general quarters."

At his command, the ship jumped to life. A chief relayed the call to the rest of the ship, along further instructions. Crewmembers who had been relaxed rushed to don flash gear and get to their battle stations. Hatches were shut and compartments sealed off. Electronics were turned on and guns were loaded. In a matter of minutes, the ship was ready to take anything that could be thrown at it.

The phone buzzed again. "Bridge, TAO. I have a definite surface contact, bearing zero-three-six relative. Unknown type, best guess is a small or mid-sized cargo ship."

"TAO, bridge aye-"

A shout from the starboard bridge wing interrupted the captain. "Sir, you're gonna want to see this!"

Captain Barnett headed outside onto the bridge wing, a deck cantilevered past the edges of the superstructure to provide a better view. "What is it, petty officer?"

"Over there, sir." The petty officer pointed and stepped out of the way, allowing the Captain to look through a pair of almost comically large binoculars.

In the distance was a shimmering horizon that might have once been dismissed as a mirage if it weren't for the almost-identical portals in the news. In front of it was a small cargo ship, barely making steerageway. It was listing and an unhealthy quantity of smoke poured from its superstructure. The ship was still flying one flag- the winged emblem of Mistral, upside-down.

Captain Barnett made his decision in an instant, heading back into the CIC. "Prep a helo for search and rescue operations. Come to course zero-three-six, all ahead flank."

A distinct rumble grew beneath their feet as the helmsman brought the _Farragut_'s four General Electric LM2500 gas turbines to full power. As they closed the distance, a trio of giant birds appeared out of the blurry portal, heading toward the cargo ship desperately trying to make its way toward the destroyer. Another three circled above, passing in and out of the portal.

"Bridge, TAO, new contacts bearing zero-three-six!"

"I already see them, TAO." A cargo ship may be easy prey. A US Navy destroyer, not so much. The Grimm were about to get a taste of what they could do. Barnett ordered, "All batteries released, kill all unknown tracks."

"Aye, sir." Down in the CIC, or Combat Information Center, the TAO ordered, "Kill tracks two, three, and five with five-inch. Kill tracks one, four, and six with Sparrow missiles."

The 5"/62 Mark 45 lightweight gun was one of the simplest weapon systems on the ship- though not as simple as the name might suggest. It was an autoloading naval rifle mounted in a computer-controlled turret at the bow of the ship. From a console in the CIC, a crewman slaved the gun to the massive AN/SPY-1D phased array radar and picked a target. The gun swivelled around and fired. In a split second, the projectile crossed the distance and blew a hole in the giant bird, knocking it out of the air. The turret was already swivelling to line up with the next target.

Beside him, another operator selected the three circling Nevermores- represented by geometric symbols- on a computer display. She took a deep breath before pulling the trigger. At the bow of the ship, three doors on the deck opened to expose the Mark 41 Vertical Launch System cells below. A RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile exploded out of each cell on a pillar of smoke and flame. They turned tightly to line up with their targets, homing on the radar signals reflected by illumination from the SPY radar. The effect on target was immediate and dramatic. The 86 pound blast-fragmentation warhead shattered bone, blasting off wings and tails. If the Nevermores didn't die immediately, they did when they slammed into the surface of the Atlantic.

"All targets destroyed, sir."

"Begin SAR operations. Get our helo in the air, launch RHIBs." Captain Barnett turned to his XO. "Bermuda Triangle?"

Commander Banks nodded grimly. "Aye, sir."

* * *

_Four days later  
Shibuya Maru  
Philippine Sea_

Captain Yoshirou Watanabe chewed his lip as he looked out the rain-battered bridge windows of his vessel. The deck rolled beneath his feet. The _Shibuya Maru_ was a small cargo vessel, and though it was a sturdy ship the storm made him nervous. He hadn't been expecting it, and they'd run straight into the heart of the storm. No way out of it but through, now.

Suddenly, there was a loud bump and a sickening lurch as the ship appeared to drop out from underneath the crew. The storm appeared to have let up, and the captain stepped outside to get a better view. He gasped when he saw what had happened.

They were now in relatively calm water, with only a trickle of rain. Behind them was an unmistakable shimmering portal with stormy seas visible on the other side. The bump he had felt was the transition between the storm on Earth and the calm water on Remnant.

He had heard of a similar portal being discovered on the other side of the world, but he'd never expected to run into such a thing himself. He realized very quickly that he was between a rock and a hard place. It seemed much safer on this side, in calm water rather than in a storm that could wreck his ship. But he knew the dangers lurking in this world, if that was where they truly were.

"What do we do, Captain?" his helmsman asked, no doubt thinking the same thing.

Calm water with unknown dangers versus the known dangers of a storm. A formation of black shapes dropping out of the sky forced his hand. Eyes widening in fear, the captain turned and ordered, "Come about! Full engines!"

He turned to another man and ordered him to send a distress call and launch flares. It was a slim hope. Most likely, this was a deserted patch of water, and there was no way anyone on the Earth side would see their call for help.

The _Shibuya Maru_ was a cargo vessel designed for economy, not manoeuvrability or speed. Its single rudder and twin shafts meant a long, lazy circle before they could return through the portal. As the ship made its desperate turn for safety, the birds began their dive. They were used to safe waters, and the ship was completely unarmed. There was nothing they could do but run and pray.

A small grey aircraft, scorpion-like but otherwise defying description, swooped out of the clouds toward them. It went not for the cargo ship but the Grimm birds diving toward it. High-caliber, Dust-enhanced rounds exploded from a turret underneath the aircraft, tearing into the lead Nevermore. It tumbled and fell out of the air, bouncing off the ship once before dropping into the ocean.

There were still three more of the massive birds. Two broke off and headed toward the aircraft. The third continued toward the _Shibuya Maru_, unleashing a flurry of razor-sharp feathers that punched holes in its thin steel decking. It swept back upwards, circling ominously above and readying itself for another pass.

The strange aircraft had not come alone. Its companion swooped down out of the sky, shredding the Nevermore circling above the _Shibuya Maru_. The aircraft continued to relieve its partner, which had just rolled out of the way of a stream of deadly feathers. The second aircraft opened fire on the Nevermore from behind, tearing it out of the sky.

The last Nevermore was outnumbered, but as a young Grimm it had only the slightest intelligence. It circled around and went for the second aircraft, leaving it completely open for the first to come around and dive toward it with guns blazing. Its life- if one could call it that- ended moments later in a stream of deadly bullets.

"What is that?" the helmsman asked, still in shock at the display.

"Airships from the military of Atlas," he answered simply, staring at the hovering machines through a pair of binoculars.

The helmsman blinked. "We've made history, captain."

* * *

_One day later  
The White House  
Washington, DC_

"More portals."

It was a question as much as it was a statement. The National Security Advisor had worked with the President long enough to realize that, and she answered, "Yes, sir. One in the Philippine Sea, one off the coast of Florida."

He raised an eyebrow. "The Bermuda Triangle?"

She nodded. "It's tempting to say that the locations aren't coincidental, Mister President, but the fact is simply that we do not know at this point."

"A Japanese freighter went through the Pacific portal."

"The _Shibuya Maru_, sir. There's the sensational aspect that they've discovered the secret of the Devil's Triangle," she explained. "Even if you discount that, you've got a lost merchant ship happening upon this portal to another world. It's great press if nothing else."

The President turned to his Secretary of Defense. "What's your recommendation?"

"Don't take any chances. A carrier strike group off each portal site for the time being," the new SecDef answered. "That's a hedge both against invasion from the other side and people on our side trying to exploit the new portals."

"Okay, do it." He turned back to the National Security Advisor. "Keep me posted. This could be a great new opportunity, but it's another complication for an already complicated situation."

"Yes, sir."


	54. Fragment

This was originally planned as a full arc, but cut down in the downscope. It's something I really do want to deal with, though, so here's the short Aside version. I'm not too happy with a lot of the details but I think it gets the idea across.

I'd like to give Xavier Rall a nod for coining the term "Fragment", though I ultimately took a far different direction with them than what he envisioned.

* * *

Author: XCVG  
Canon: No  
Context: The Remnan Exchange, 2016

**Emergence: Aside  
****Fragment**

It was a relatively boring day at the Fragment office tucked into the corner of the J. Edgar Hoover building in Washington, DC. Their Canadian liaison had just flown back to Ottawa and the line from their boss had been silent all day.

A Fragment was a Remnan or part-Remnan living on Earth. There was an official definition- a long list of criteria, in fact- but the informal one was the one the office typically used when explaining their role to their superiors. In the wake of the disaster in Texas and the opening of the portals, the search for Fragments had been stepped up. Their job was to identify and observe but take action only when necessary to protect the national security of the United States. The existence of Fragments or their office was not strictly classified, but the identities of discovered and suspected Fragments was kept secret.

Some of their finds had been surprising. The vast majority of suspected Fragments were in fact normal humans with exaggerated rumours. Then there was the opposite case, where a Fragment had gone to the media, became discredited as a hoax, and then discovered by the office as the real deal. Many actual Fragments had no idea they were different, and many were quite happy where they were. One was a wannabe vigilante who had vastly overestimated his abilities and ended up in hospital. One actually walked into their office. So far they hadn't found any Fragments doing anything more illegal than growing pot, but sooner or later they'd come across someone violent. They had plans for that, but still dreaded the day.

"How about this one?" Special Agent Todd Castello asked, handing a thin folder to the man sitting in front of his desk. "Prison camp escape in North Vietnam, 1968. Not a lot of details, but multiple eyewitness accounts of one then-Lieutenant Roy Whitlock moving extremely fast, appearing to take bullets with no ill effects and- get this- starting fires without any visible means of doing so."

"Well, if it's real, that guy is definitely a contender," Mich Bradbury, an ATF agent currently on joint assignment, replied. "I think it's worth checking out."

"That's what I thought, too," Castello agreed. "Pack your gear, it looks like we're headed to Boston."

* * *

"Captain Whitlock's file is clean, but that was forty years ago," Bradbury commented idly, standing on the front porch. "Think he'll be warrior poet, normal guy, or crazy vet?"

"We're about to find out," Castello replied. He took a deep breath and rapped three times on the sturdy wooden front door.

A tall, lithe man with piercing green eyes and greying hair opened the door. He seemed remarkably spry for a man of his age and experience. He asked, "Can I help you?"

"Special Agent Todd Castello, Federal Bureau of Investigation," he introduced. "This is Agent Mich Bradbury, a liaison from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. May we come in?"

"My guns are legal, I don't do drugs, and federal agents don't show up for jaywalking," Captain (ret.) Roy Whitlock replied roughly, standing fast. His tone was firm, but not rude. "What's this about, gentlemen?"

"Basically, our office is tasked with discovering Americans who may have Remnan ancestry," Castello told him. "You're not in any trouble, but I was hoping you might answer a few questions for us."

Whitlock remained polite, but guarded. "What kind of questions?"

"We know about North Vietnam," Agent Bradbury stated bluntly. "We were hoping you could shine some light on what happened in 1968."

The man's expression changed instantly. "Get out."

Castello reminded him, "Captain, it's been over forty-"

"Forty years isn't goddamn long enough," Roy snapped. "You serve a warrant or you get off my porch."

Bradbury opened his mouth to protest, but was quickly cut off.

"I'm sorry for bothering you," Castello apologized, turning to leave.

The other agent followed, giving the veteran a quick nod as he slammed the door shut. He said quietly, "You know, I probably shouldn't have pushed. He spent five years in hell. I wouldn't want to relive that either."

"Maybe," his FBI counterpart said with a sigh. "But I'd really like to know if we're dealing with a Fragment or not."

"We ask his family?" the ATF agent asked as they climbed back into their government-issued car. "Wife is divorced-"

"Wife's deceased. Died quietly a few years ago," Castello stated.

"Shit," Bradbury breathed. "Two kids, a son and a daughter."

"Way ahead of you," Castello said. "His son's on the other side of the country, but his daughter still lives here."

"You have a name and address, too?"

"Jade Whitlock." He smirked. "You'll never guess what she does."

The ATF agent shrugged. "I have no idea."

Wordlessly, Castello handed his phone over.

Bradbury took one look. "No fucking way."

* * *

The agents waited for their quarry in the dressing room backstage, which in the odd little cafe was actually more or less a repurposed broom closet. Dusty boxes, an old guitar, and a rickety folding table made the space even more cramped.

"Good evening, Ms Whitlock," Castello greeted as she entered the room.

Jade Whitlock lacked her father's green eyes, but was similarly slimly built. Her deep green hair- probably natural considering her ancestry- cascaded freely down her back. Despite being well into her thirties, the woman looked and moved like she had just finished college. She asked nervously, "Can I help you?"

Castello introduced himself and his partner, making sure to show his badge. He began, "I was hoping you could answer a few questions for us."

"Take a seat," she offered, sitting down at the table herself. "I thought you didn't come for the show. You looked really out of place there at the back."

"That's true, Ms Whitlock, but it _was_ a good show," Castello said. "Almost like it had real magic in it."

"What do you want?" Jade asked suspiciously.

"I think you already know," Bradbury answered.

She laughed quietly. "I guess there's no point lying about it. Yes, I'm part Remnan. Yes, I have Aura, and a Semblance, and yes, I use it in my shows. There's nothing illegal about that. Happy?"

Bradbury laughed. "Miss Whitlock, believe me, we're the last ones who'll go after you for any of that."

"Actually, we wanted to ask about your father, Captain Roy Whitlock," Castello told her. "Specifically, if he ever talked about how he escaped from North Vietnam."

"He didn't talk much about the war at all," Jade answered after a long pause. "I know the camp was a painful memory for him. I never asked how he got out and he never answered."

"Was he born here, or on Remnant?"

"Beats me." Jade shrugged. "I don't know my family's history very well, at least not on that side. My dad never really talks about his childhood. He loves us more than anything but he was always kind of distant."

"Did he ever tell you about your ancestry?"

"He told us we were special, that we had abilities we needed to be very careful with and that we might be the only ones in the world with them," she answered freely. "He didn't tell us about Remnant until after the portals and stuff, but by then I'd already figured it out."

Bradbury nodded. "Interesting."

"So, what happens with me now?"

"Miss Whitlock, we are looking for people like you. Not to arrest, but much the opposite. If you are interested, we do have a few positions available," Castello offered. Few had taken the offer, but it was an (admittedly questionable) standard procedure. "Of course, if you don't take it, this meeting never happened. You're free to live your life as any American citizen."

Her answer was quick. "No."

"You're not even going to consider it?" Special Agent Bradbury asked.

"I know what you mean by help. There's only one thing that only people like me can do," the green-haired woman answered. "I don't want to fight anyone. That's not me. I didn't choose to be born with these powers, and using them like this is just about all I want to do with them."

"You're happy using your Semblance as a party trick." It came out as a statement as much as a question.

"People love the show, and it doesn't hurt anyone," she answered, standing up. "If there's nothing else, it's been a long "

He followed the motion. "Very well, Miss Whitlock. Have a good day."

* * *

After meeting with Jade, there was nothing for the agents to do but drive back to Washington. Captain Roy Whitlock was a Fragment, and neither him nor his daughter wanted anything to do with them. They'd follow up on his son later, but doubted that would go anywhere. They had everything they needed. Still, it was hardly a fulfilling conclusion.

"Well, then," Mich Bradbury commented.

Todd Castello shrugged. "They've done nothing wrong. Hell, Roy's a hero."

"On the list?"

"Yup. On the list, move on to the next," he agreed, tapping his hands on the wheel. "Have anyone lined up, Mich?"

"I think it's a long shot, but there's a kook down in Arkansas..."


	55. On The Web

Not an entirely serious Aside, but still sort of canon. Originally I wanted to get this out by Christmas, but it just refused to flow.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: Partial  
Context: The Remnan Exchange, 2016

* * *

**Emergence: Aside  
****On The Web**

_The Internet has revolutionized the way we work, play, and connect with each other. In just over two decades, it has gone from a limited-access academic installation to a globe-spanning infrastructure used by billions every day. Every imaginable service and every piece of human knowledge has been brought to our fingertips. The internet can be accessed in even the poorest and most remote corners of the world._

_Soon, it will be available on Remnant as well._

_Sponsored by technology giants on both sides of the portals, the initiative is set to bring high-speed access to citizens in the four Kingdoms by the end of the decade. At first, access will be limited to so-called "internet centers" located in schools, libraries, and other institutions. Over time, cellular, wifi, and landline connections will be installed and companies and new hardware and software introduced to access this network._

_Proponents of the project say that bringing the Internet to Remnant will open up new opportunities for cultural and technological exchange. Many believe that both sides have much to learn from each other, and that this initiative will bring disparate peoples together as it has on Earth. Critics argue that it's too soon. The flow of information through the portals has been fairly tightly gated, and providing Internet access to Remnant would blow the gates wide open. Concerns have been raised that the sudden exchange of information could have unintended and negative consequences._

_Though bringing the Internet to Remnant is controversial, all regulatory hurdles have been cleared and construction has already started. Ready or not, the world is opening up._

* * *

Dennis Grassmere exhaled deeply as he collapsed onto the battered sofa shoved in a corner of their "breakroom"- really a glorified trailer. He tossed his hard hat onto the seat beside him and ran a hand through his greasy hair. "Ugh."

"Hey, Dennis," a tall woman with a long dirty ponytail called from the other side of the room. "You're on TV."

He glanced at the screen, an old Toshiba flat-panel with a cable snaking upward to an aerial on the roof. "That's a reporter."

She laughed and pointed to a corner of the screen. "No, you're the dot on top of the cherry picker over there."

He squinted at the dot. "How can you even tell?"

The woman was about to answer when the door swung open and another woman; shorter, slimmer, and dressed in bright cyan, stepped inside. A badge declaring her as Callaiea Skye, network engineer from Vale Telecom, hung loosely from around her neck. Like most of the Remnan workers, she didn't believe in hard hats and her cyan hair hung loosely around her shoulders.

Unconsciously, Dennis tensed up slightly, and it wasn't because of the safety violations.

He considered himself a fair man who didn't judge based on race- he was part Indian and an eighth Native himself- but there was just something unsettling about Remnans. Maybe it was the fact that you couldn't tell by looking they were one of the normals or one of the ones with superpowers. Maybe it was the brightly coloured hair that looked fake but not fake the way dye did. Maybe it was the slightly different motions and slightly different language.

She wasted no time with pleasantries and asked simply, "How is the project going?"

"They relay tower is up," he answered smoothly. He was a tech guy at heart and talking about their work was a great distraction from the creepy. "We're just waiting on your guys in Vale now, then we'll be able to calibrate the antennas and run a full systems test. If that works, there's nothing technical between us and Internet on Remnant. It's just a matter of flipping the switch."

"You objected to some aspects of the project," Callaiea said. Her tone was more curious than conspiratorial.

"I'm not saying we're doing it wrong," Dennis answered. "I'm saying I wish we could run fibre- that'd be the proper way of doing it- but that's not happening unless the road goes through, and, well..."

"I heard that they're gonna do it," the ponytail woman chimed in.

"And I heard they aren't. I think we'll have to wait and see," Dennis argued. "I mean, if trade becomes big, it'll happen, but you kinda need the road for that, so-"

"Egg and chicken?" the Remnan woman suggested.

"Chicken and egg, but yes."

* * *

"Kludge! Megakludge to the max!" Jay Singh exclaimed as he ran his hand over the cables leading into Beacon's humming mainframe. He turned to the shorter, red-haired man standing next to him. "Damn, I've always wanted to say that!"

"Is our equipment really that bad?" Hal Flannery asked. Realizing he might be misinterpreting the statement, he added, "Or good?"

Jay laughed. "No, man, I just always wanted to say that. You know, Seaman Jones, The Hunt For Red October?" He scratched his beard. "I guess not, huh."

Hal shook his head. The mainframe room was hot, something he was used to but his counterpart apparently was not. He started moving, asking as they headed toward the cooler hallway, "What's the plan?"

"Still waiting on the masts," he answered. "Telco's got the wireless link in, but we've got to mount our own links up there too for the other buildings. I guess we can wait on the other ends since we don't actually have any clients, but I know they'll want it soon and we've got the hardware so we might as well put it in now."

"Sounds good." He had no idea if it was good, but it _sounded_ good.

Jay breathed a sigh of relief as they emerged into the hallway. "You know, Terran IT guys don't work well in hot rooms, and neither does our equipment. Please tell me you got a cooler server closet."

"It is cooler, but it's literally a closet," Hal answered with a shrug. "I got a... you'd call it a portable AC unit. Runs on freeze Dust and it'll keep your mainframe cold enough to store meat in."

"Good, good. Have the servers come in?"

"Yeah, they just came in yesterday," he responded affirmatively. "Quite a few boxes- smaller than I expected- but quite a few boxes. How many mainframes are you putting it? Can you not build a powerful enough single computer?"

Jay shook his head. "Redundancy, my man. Two servers, fully virtualized and running Redmond's latest and greatest. Just AD and some infrastructure today, but before you know it they'll want more, and if we start putting in more labs _we'll_ want to hang some stuff on it too. Plus the dedicated file server. I would have preferred something more UNIX-like for that, but, well, their money, their rules."

"You know I still have no idea what any of that means," the Remnan deadpanned.

"And I still have no idea how your network hasn't collapsed," Jay replied. They'd been trading barbs since their first conversation, and the bearded Terran still had no idea if the Remnan tech loved him or hated him. "You'll figure it out pretty quick, but for now all you have to do is run the- how did you put it?- thin but stiff cable with flimsy little ends, and I'll set up the rest."

"I'm not sure if you're excited about this or dreading it." Hal unlocked his office and bolted into his large reclining chair before the Terran could steal it from him.

"Both," Jay replied, taking the smaller chair in front of him. He kicked his legs up onto the desk. "Schools have the worst lusers you've ever seen. This is going to be the deployment from hell. But, I'm one of the first Terrans on Remnant, so you win some, you lose some."

* * *

Connecting Remnant to Earth's virtual world had been a tremendous undertaking- albeit more a political than technical one- but none of that passed through the minds of Team RWBY as they half-led, half-dragged their quarry into the newly outfitted computer lab. It was mostly empty in the dead of night, with a few students still there enthralled by Wikipedia articles and forum threads an the tech guy slumped over the table with a half-empty can of cola by his hand.

"Friend Ruby, I still don't understand the point of connecting to this Internet," the ginger-haired girl protested.

"You will, Penny, you just have to try it!" Ruby told her, pulling her toward a computer station near the edge of the room and pushing her into the chair.

The station was dominated by a thick black opaque display showing a heavily stylized blue window with surprising colour and clarity. Below it was a black rectangular box trimmed with a hexagonal pattern and featuring prominent blue and yellow ports on the front. Several cables led to the back of it. Two of them snaked forward- one toward a physical keyboard in plain black except for a prominent silver branding and the other toward a peripheral unfamiliar to her. A placard declared it as station 19 of 25.

"How do I use it?" Penny asked. She held up the unfamiliar peripheral, an oblong object with a wheel in the middle and a cable leading to the black box. "I understand the keyboard, but what does this do?"

"That's a mouse. It moves the pointer on the screen," Ruby told her. She grabbed the mouse and demonstrated.

"Ah, I see," she acknowledged. She scanned the screen. _Username, password._ "What do I put in?"

"Guest, beacon. All lower case."

Penny guessed correctly that those were the username and password. She typed in both and clicked on the login button, and was greeted with another unfamiliar screen. A picture of Beacon was in the background with a few colourful icons above it. At the bottom of the screen was a long strip of icons, one of which looked similar to the stylized window at the login screen. A clock sat at the far right.

It couldn't be that hard, could it?

Weiss prodded, "Just open Chrome. It's the round one with the colours."

"Chrome is for this Internet you talked about?" Penny asked, finding the icon and clicking on it. "Why not just label it Internet?"

"It's a long story," Yang said dismissively. "Something about competition."

At first, the ginger-haired gynoid was slow, carefully typing on the unfamiliar keyboard and awkwardly pushing around the mouse with both hands. She searched for a term, frowned, put in another, and tried again before opening a link. At first she looked up basic mathematical concepts, then a few terms none of the others recognized, and then she started on the massive subject of Earth history.

It didn't take long for her to speed up. The keys clacked constantly beneath her left hand as she deftly manipulated the mouse with her right. Her queries were more refined and she cycled through pages faster.

"I think I'm getting the hang of it!" Penny said excitedly. "It's not too different from what we have, just with a lot of annoying dumb things!"

"That's great, Penny!"

When she started moving too quickly for anyone else to keep track of what she was reading, that's when they started getting worried.

Blake said nervously, "Uh, Ruby..."

The crimsonette tapped her fingers together, grimacing. "Ooops."

Finally, the gynoid stopped. She let go of the mouse, rolled backward a few inches, and stared blankly at the colourful and very familiar images on the screen.

Weiss summed it up for them. "I think we broke her."


	56. Home

Pretty rough, but it was a quick thing I wrote between other things. Tying up some loose ends after the previous arc.

Author: XCVG  
Canon: Full  
Context: The Remnan Exchange, 2016

* * *

**Emergence: Aside  
****Home**

After a longer-than-expected meeting with a pair of plainclothes agents in Vancouver, Rose and her companion were off on a commercial flight to New York. The Fall Maiden had been quiet the whole flight, but Rose could tell she was enjoying it. Arguably, air travel was nicer on Remnant, but a 777 was a completely different experience than a C-class. Besides, first-class wasn't half bad. She had to give the United States Government that. They had class.

"Welcome to New York," the redhead announced to her in the arrivals area of John F. Kennedy International Airport. Passing through security had been a breeze- no doubt arranged by the FBI, and they'd already been told what to look for and who to meet after the flight.

Amber remarked as she followed the other woman toward the exit, "That was, I think that was the busiest place I've ever been to."

"It's a big airport for a big city. Almost as big as Vale, and air travel's a lot more common here," she told the young woman as they headed out into the parking lot. "You'll get used to it."

"Huh."

"And this is where we part ways," Rose announced, stopping near a blue sedan with a dark-haired man waiting patiently inside. "Good luck, Amber. You've got my number, you know where to find me if you need me."

The Maiden was shocked. "What?"

"You're Amber Davison, who was in the right place and the right time to witness a high-profile drug hit," she answered circuitously. "You're under the protection of this nation's witness protection program. I don't imagine you'll be staying in New York very long."

"I didn't..."

"I know you were probably imagining living in my apartment or something, but this is safer," Rose told her. "And you'll like it better. Trust me."

She nodded slowly. "Okay."

* * *

Rose twiddled her thumbs as she waited in the utilitarian office. Her eyes scanned the desk before her. It was messy, with a bunch of pens and hand-scribbled notes, but actual files were conspicuously absent. The Dell computer was sleeping, its while power light blinking slowly. A photo of a child sat on a shelf between two rows of large binders.

A vaguely familiar agent hustled into the room and sat down behind the desk. He greeted. "I'm Supervisory Special Agent Todd Castello. Thank you for waiting, Officer Drake."

She replied, "Just Rose is fine. I'm not entirely sure if it's my first name or my last name anyway."

"In that case, Todd," the agent agreed. "Do you know why we're having this meeting?"

"Your guys already did a debrief, so I have no idea," Rose answered. It was a half-truth; she had suspicions.

He tossed a folder on the table. "How would you like to become a Special Agent of the FBI?"

Her response was light, but blunt. "Can't I just be a New York cop?"

"No more than John McClane could," Todd joked.

She laughed. "Oh, man, you don't know the half of it."

"The threats out there are changing," the agent said reflectively. "Yesterday it was international terrorism. Tomorrow it will be bad people with superpowers who wish to do us harm. You're in a unique position to help counter those threats."

"I told Ozpin I didn't want to save the world," she retorted. "Why would I tell you anything different? Unless this is one of those do what we say or we destroy your life things."

"Rose, we're not going to force you into anything," he reasoned. "I think you know deep down what you're capable of. Maybe it scares you, maybe you don't know what you're going to do with it, maybe you keep trying to push it away. Thing is, you can, and someday, you will."

"Can, maybe. Will, no."

He tried a different tactic. "Look, we're not offering to save the world or teach you the secrets of the soul. But there are innocents we're protecting, and your country could really use your help."

She stood up to leave, but offered a tempered, "I'll think about it."

"All we can ask. Thank you for your time, Rose."

* * *

It was Qrow's first visit to Patch since the whole Rose business. Ozpin wanted him close, which meant no more teaching at Signal. That suited him well enough. One in twenty kids was worth teaching, the other nineteen might have been special to someone but not to him. So he headed to Patch to finish up the paperwork, and figured he'd stop by the Xiao Long residence to visit Tai on his way back.

And he couldn't find the man. At least not at his house.

He had a hunch, even if it was stupid, and followed it. Sure enough there was a light-haired man sitting on the stone seawall. He had to admit, the sight surprised him as much as it didn't.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Summer always liked it here," Taiyang remarked, voice hitching in his throat. He reached over for a smooth glass object but missed, sending it crashing down onto the seawall below.

Qrow recognized it immediately. "Tai, you shouldn't be drinking."

He laughed darkly. "What does it matter anymore?"

_Why am I the one who always has to play counsellor these days?_ Qrow reflected to himself. The grey hunter said lightly, "You need a girlfriend. Maybe a boat. Probably a hobby."

The attempt at levity backfired. "I need... no. It won't help."

Qrow sat down on the seawall beside him, taking a swig from his flask. "How long have you been doing this, Tai?"

"Since she left," he answered quietly. "It's my fault."

"It is not your fault," Qrow told him firmly. "It wasn't your fault before, and it's not your fault now. It's a dangerous world. You know that as well as I do."

"This is different," Tai argued. "Yeah, back then it was just a tragedy, but this time... it was a miracle and I drove her away."

"That's the problem with miracles," Qrow recited. "There's always a catch. Never really works out the way you'd life."

Even for the veteran huntsman, it was a little cynical. Tai questioned, "You come up with that?"

He laughed. "No. Rose did."

"Ah." Tai offered no further reply, letting the silence linger.

"Look, you've still got your girls, right?" Qrow offered, desperately trying to be uplifting. "You've got that. And Rose is someone. She's not your wife, but she's someone and she'll be back. You were in a bad spot last year, but there's some things to be thankful for. Things are looking up, you're just too damn blind to see it."

"You're right, you know," he reluctantly agreed. "I'm the one fucking this up. God, how much have I screwed up?"

Qrow put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Tai, if anything, you're the innocent one in all this. There's a lot of screwed up things out there, and out of the blue, half of it seems to hit you. So yeah. You may be a giant magnet for trouble, but it's not your fault."

The blonde nodded slowly. "I just... I don't know. Still an awful deal."

"No argument here."

"Since when was I the inspirational one?" Qrow asked rhetorically.

Tai laughed. "Since always."


End file.
